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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28164960">Minecraft but Forced Spectator Mode</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bamboozledeagle/pseuds/bamboozledeagle'>bamboozledeagle</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Blob!Dream because I said so, Clay | Dream-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Dream gets yeeted out of his body because of his Dreamon how rude, Dreamon, Everyone Is Doing Their Best, Friend the sheep is...something idk, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I accidentally gave the Dreamon emotions oh no, Mental Instability, Minecraft Mechanics, Someone said Dreamon and I cracked my knuckles, Unreliable Narrator, the egg, this is characters on the dream smp not the actual cc</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:49:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>29,676</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28164960</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bamboozledeagle/pseuds/bamboozledeagle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>I saw a post on Tumblr about the Dreamon throwing Dream out of his body like Bill and Dipper from Gravity Falls and I lost my mind so here it is.</p><p>After an exorcism gone wrong Dream is forced to watch as the Dreamon in his body ruins the lives of his friends and family. His relationships are in shambles and his friends are being hurt. Even if he gets his body back, he's not sure things can go back to how they used to be.</p><p>Edit: I have rewritten chapter 1 and 2!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clay | Dream &amp; Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>155</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1341</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Credit to @callieharm on Tumblr for the idea!! </p><p>This ended up becoming longer than anticipated so here you go! There's a lot of lore so if I messed up some things let me know! I did move around some events timeline wise so please be kind!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He wakes up feeling like he's floating on air - like a great weight he hadn’t been aware of was removed from his body.</p><p>He sits up and immediately knows why.</p><p>There’s nothing on him. His mask is in place as always, but aside from his hoodie and pants, he doesn’t have any of his items or armor. His first thought is that he died. Except…he isn’t in his bed. The grass beneath his fingertips and the sun in his eyes is proof enough of that.</p><p>He looks around, sensing the layout of the area around him through his mask, and he finds his dropped items surrounding him. Fundy and Tubbo are huddled together and talking rapidly in front of him, but he pays them no mind. He needs to pick up his items. He reaches out for them, but his fingers pass right through them.</p><p>He can’t pick up his items.</p><p>The confusion that was welling up within him skyrockets. What happened?</p><p>His last memories are of Tubbo and Fundy having him repeat some phrases on an altar. He has no idea how he got here, next to Purpled’s UFO, when he distinctly remembers being on a dirt altar in front of Skeppy’s mansion. He looks in the direction of Fundy and Tubbo, about to ask what happened when another figure enters his field of vision.</p><p>Dream can’t look in mirrors due to his…nature, but he knows what he looks like and the person in front of him is a spitting image.</p><p>Fundy and Tubbo continue to whisper excitedly, “Is he normal?”</p><p>Dream nearly responds with an ‘obviously not if there are TWO of me’, but then the copy walks over and picks up his items.</p><p>“I feel normal.” The doppelganger says, “My IQ feels high again.”</p><p>“What the hell?” Dream blurts out and none of them react to it.</p><p>That pretty much sums up his situation.</p><p>…</p><p>They can’t hear him.</p><p>His frantic questions to Tubbo sparked into confused yelling at Fundy before swiftly flaring into shrieking in anger at Bad when he gives up on the other two. Then, eventually, his anger at going unheard fizzles out into desperate pleas when <em>George and Sapnap</em> of all people don’t respond.</p><p>No one ever seems to hear him.</p><p>“Oh for- just shut up, they can’t hear you anyway.”</p><p>Except for one person.</p><p>He turns his mask to face his doppelganger, displeasure radiating from his posture and a dangerous aura surrounding him – the closest he ever gets to a glare. The Dreamon usually tended to dismiss Dream and ignore his presence like everyone else, but sometimes when they were alone It would speak to him.</p><p>“Yeah well, give me my body back and maybe I’ll stop.” He shoots back.</p><p>He had eventually figured out who or rather, <em>what</em> his doppelganger was from overhearing Tubbo and Fundy talking about it, ‘I think we split the Dreamon and the Dream part of him, leaving just a…Dre.’</p><p>And split the two of them up they did.</p><p>But they were wrong about who was in control.</p><p>“Nah, I don’t think I will.” If the Dreamon was trying to hide Its delight, then It did a horrible job because the smirk behind Its voice is as subtle as an Enderman death, the haunting echo of a scream ripping through quiet nights. “With me in control, we can finally get what we always wanted.”</p><p>“And what is that?” Dream snaps, crossing his arms. There’s a sinking feeling in his stomach as the Dreamon cocks his head to the side. It’s clear that the Dreamon is amused by his anger and frustration.</p><p>“Control, of course.”</p><p>…</p><p>The Dreamon doesn’t do anything right away. It seems content to pretend to be ‘Dream’ and blend in. Dream had been worried for his friends after he realized what happened, figuring the Dreamon would go on a rampage using Dream’s powers, but as the Dreamon continued to simply blend in he thought, for a very brief moment, that maybe everything would be okay.</p><p>The moment Wilbur comes to them, his sanity fraying at the edges and his paranoia seeping out of his eyes – offering to be the Dreamon’s vassal – Dream can feel the threads start to form.</p><p>Dream is horrified by the delighted, sinister tone that alights the Dreamon’s destructive aura when Wilbur tells it what he wants to do. As the man sinks into madness, he doesn’t notice the panicked specter in front of him trying to stop him from handing the seeds of their destruction over to the Dreamon.</p><p>Wilbur damns more than just himself and L’manberg when he takes the TNT. The Dreamon doesn’t react to Dream’s attempts at persuading Wilbur against it, knowing just as Dream does that the effort is useless. A thin thread winds around and around Wilbur’s wrists and neck with only a few nods and agreements from the Dreamon.</p><p>He’s as easy prey as it gets.</p><p>Dream tries to talk him down, tries to get Wilbur to listen to Tommy and remember what he fought a war against Dream for. Was it all pointless? Was turning the kids into soldiers for a nation he was going to blow up anyway all just a sick joke? Was making Dream shoot Tommy all for nothing in the end? Were the sacrifices they made - the disks Tommy valued more than anything, the lives of his friends and family – worthless to him?</p><p>Dream doesn’t hope that Wilbur has changed his mind about the button when they win back the country.  He doesn’t cheer with the others when Schlatt dies. He doesn’t let a smile trickle onto his face when Tubbo stands at the presidential podium to give his acceptance speech. He can’t.</p><p>He was there when the Dreamon made an all too willing Wilbur swear that no matter what happened, he’d blow the country to smithereens.</p><p>So instead, he watches with sad eyes as the Dreamon kills Schlatt from the shadows with a silent command. He squeezes his eyes shut as It reveals Wilbur as the traitor to Tommy. He cries when the country becomes a crater in the ground - his form rippling as a divot is scooped out of his very soul and he blacks out for a moment from the agony of it.</p><p>When his vision fades back in, Dream can see the fire that used to be L’manburg. There’s more red dancing in the flames than any normal fire. Red strands swing to a beat that no one can hear.</p><p>
  <strong>There are so many strings.</strong>
</p><p>…</p><p>Ghostbur is surprising but not exactly unwelcome.</p><p>Despite the ghost’s presence being very confusing to Dream and everyone else, Dream is quicker to accept him. He doesn’t really have any other choice due to the extremely limited options he has when it comes to conversation partners.</p><p>When he first called out to him, Dream had thought Ghostbur was speaking to someone else and he had been shocked when the ghost persisted in holding a conversation with him. It was only when Ghostbur had broken down sobbing how no one wanted him around that Dream realized his mistake. The specter panicked, unsure of how to comfort a crying Wilbur, and summoned blue dye for him.</p><p>
  <em>‘Is this…for me?’ The ghost sniffled.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Um, yeah.’ Dream awkwardly dropped it into his hands. Wilbur had been fiddling with blue dye leading up to his death and it was the best Dream could think of.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘I’m not sad anymore!’ Wilbur beamed at it, wonder and awe in his gaze. His fingers fiddle with the blue, turning it over in his hands, recognizing it from his past life.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Really?’ Dream questions. It’s just dye, after all. He decides to keep that thought to himself as Wilbur giggles, ‘Yes! The blue took it away!’</em>
</p><p>It took an hour for Dream to realize what they had both done. He’s surprised he can still summon items when he wants, he very rarely had a reason to when he was back in his body so the thought of trying while like…this, hadn’t occurred to him.</p><p>“They said I died.” Ghostbur explains to him later as he kicks his feet over a small creeper hole. His memories are largely gone, leaving a confused but light-hearted man in the ashes of a maniac.</p><p>“You deserved better.” Dream says, sitting next to him. “You needed help, and no one knew how to give it to you.”</p><p>Ghostbur hums, “I think I did something bad, but no one will tell me what.”</p><p>Dream squashes the bitter feelings that crawl up his throat at the mention of talking to the others. He tries not to be so upset about it, but he’s jealous Ghostbur can still interact with his world.</p><p>“You didn’t do anything that someone else didn’t enable.” Dream mutters and Ghostbur notices the solemn air around him.</p><p>“That’s alright Dream, don’t be so sad on my behalf.” He encourages, “Here have some blue.”</p><p>“Ghostbur, I can’t-” The dye falls through Dream’s lap and tumbles into the hole. He sighs.</p><p>“Oh.” Ghostbur stares at the blue in the hole. “I guess you can’t pick it up anymore.”</p><p>“What gave it away?” Dream quips sarcastically and then immediately backtracks at the hurt look Ghostbur gives him, “Sorry, it’s just a touchy subject.”</p><p>“Lots of things are touchy subjects around me.” Ghostbur says bluntly, “Can I have some more blue?”</p><p>Dream summons more for him.</p><p>…</p><p>Out of all of the people he worries about the Dreamon targeting, Tommy is at the top of his list. The boy just refuses to follow the rules and keep his mouth shut. If anyone is going to get under the Dreamon’s skin and piss It off, then it’ll be him.</p><p>Dream knows the moment George’s house gets griefed that the Dreamon has found Its excuse. It claims that the giant obsidian around L’manberg is for George’s sake, but the flare of dark energy around it speaks volumes about what’s really going on. Despite worrying about the threads starting to wrap around Tommy and Tubbo, it turns out that he really should have been more concerned about losing his best friends.</p><p>“He doesn’t care about us.”</p><p>“No, come on, <em>please</em> Sapnap!” Dream begs in front of him, “I do!”</p><p>Sapnap glares through him, unseeing and unresponsive to his words.</p><p>“That’s not me! Don’t listen to It!” He cries, trying to grab his friend’s shoulder so he’ll see him – see the real Dream, the one that cares so <em>so</em> much – and his hand passes right through. His friend falls right through his hands.</p><p>“Just say you hate me.” George says and Dream can’t do this, he can’t, he can’t, he can’t, please don’t leave me – </p><p>“George, I don’t – please listen to me! I don’t!” He sobs, tears falling on George’s shirt where Dream has tried to hug him, and it passes right through – <em>he</em> passes right through. Just like Sapnap.</p><p>They leave thinking he was just using them, that he didn’t care, and Dream can do fuck all about it.</p><p>He goes numb after that.</p><p>…</p><p>Days pass until the negotiation with Tubbo and the numbness turns ice cold when Tommy – stupid, fun, determined, cocky Tommy – pulls out Spirit’s leather. The insults grate against his skin and he immediately goes to find Ghostbur.</p><p>He sends him to Tommy just in time to feel something <em>snap</em> inside the Dreamon.</p><p>Dream flies back. He just lost his friends (and maybe, he thinks in the end, that’s for the best), he really doesn’t want to know what the thing will do to Tommy. He arrives long before Wilbur, just in time to hear the ultimatum.</p><p>“L’manberg can be independent, but L’manberg can’t be free.”</p><p>
  <strong>Blood red strings wrapped around throats.</strong>
</p><p> …</p><p>Days later, he follows them out of the SMP, whispering to Ghostbur not to leave Tommy alone. Dream isn’t sure if the Dreamon knows Wilbur can see him and he’d prefer not to risk it. Ghostbur was lectured many times not to say anything but the ghost still throws blue back at him to show he’s listening. Dream nearly groans at the action.</p><p>As the weeks pass, Dream can’t bring himself to watch what It does to Tommy. It’s disconcerting seeing how horrible It treats the kid. He shudders, remembering that according to Tubbo and Fundy this thing used to be apart of him. Does that mean he was always capable of being so horrible?</p><p>He can’t stomach the thought.</p><p>He escapes back to the SMP and takes to analyzing the prison Sam is building. For a while, he tried hovering around his friends, but he quickly ends up devoting all his time to the prison after one too many comments about the Dreamon under his name. He knows they’re not talking about him, but they don’t, and that hurts more than any ax or sword could.</p><p>So.</p><p>The prison.</p><p>It’s enormous and inescapable as far as Dream has heard. He watches Sam build it, looks over the blueprints he can see, and does his best to memorize how it all works.</p><p>The Dreamon and Sam have seemingly thought of everything.</p><p>Dream worries about who will be forced into it.</p><p>That’s all he does these days.</p><p>Worry.</p><p>About Tommy.</p><p>About Sapnap.</p><p>About George.</p><p>About Ghostbur.</p><p>About everything he’s worked so hard to build and all the people in it.</p><p>He wants to go back.</p><p>Before the Dreamon.</p><p>Before L’manburg.</p><p>No prison.</p><p>No walls.</p><p>No exile.</p><p>Just the community house.</p><p>He wants his friends back.</p><p>He wants to go home.</p><p>…</p><p>Ghostbur is in the prison.</p><p>“That…other you said he wanted to show me something and left me here.” Ghostbur says sadly, playing with his dye. “He said he’d be back, but I think he was lying.”</p><p>“Yeah, he does that.” Dream says, the ever-present worry over Tommy spiking a bit without Ghostbur there to counter whatever the Dreamon tells Tommy. “Do you know why?”</p><p>Ghostbur shakes his head, “I was just going to deliver invitations for Tommy’s beach party, but he has all of them now.”</p><p>Dream curses. He thinks he’s figured out a way to get out of the prison, but he was hoping to save it just in case since it’s the only thing he can think of. Well, no time like the present.</p><p>“Ok, take this,” Dream summons three bottles of invisibility, a bucket of milk, and a pickaxe, “and do exactly as I say.”</p><p>Thanks to the potions Ghostbur is able to follow Sam right back out the way he came in when the alarm sounded for the broken block. Fortunately, it seemed that the Dreamon hadn’t told anyone that Ghostbur was supposed to be there so their escape was easier than Dream expected (although he did have to cover Ghostbur’s mouth when the man insisted on greeting Sam).</p><p>Dream cheers when they make it out, “Yes! I can’t believe that worked!”</p><p>“Thanks, Dream!” Ghostbur chirps, “I’m going to go tell everyone about the party now!”</p><p>Ghostbur waves at Dream and takes off.</p><p>…</p><p>To his immense surprise, Ghostbur’s escape triggers a chain reaction against the Dreamon.</p><p>Sam, noticing the mysteriously mined block figured out someone had been imprisoned and spoke to Tubbo, who was at Tommy’s party and had an interesting (read: telling) conversation with Ghostbur. From there it was quickly discovered what the Dreamon had been doing to Tommy and Quackity, who already had suspicions about the Dreamon was quick to help Tubbo rally the other SMP members. Dream watches as they start to band together with a mixture of pain and joy.</p><p>His friends have disowned him. His mother hates him.</p><p>He should be happy they’re going to take the Dreamon down.</p><p>So why did it hurt so badly when they started making plans to kill It? </p><p>Dream doesn’t know if more people were gathered nor what their plans were because by that time the Dreamon had figured out that it was him behind the Ghostbur escape.</p><p>Ghostbur was protected by being around everyone else, making him safe from the Dreamon’s retribution.</p><p>Dream didn’t have that luxury.</p><p>“You little shit!” A hand comes out of seemingly nowhere and closes around his throat, “I should have dealt with you the minute I threw you out of this body!”</p><p>The Dreamon teleports them somewhere in a dark oak forest and throws him down into a clearing. Dream rolls from the impact, his back colliding harshly with the ground. He raises to his knees with gasping coughs, one hand rubbing at where the Dreamon had nearly strangled his human form while the other hand is raised in self-defense.</p><p>“And fucking stay there!” The Dreamon screeches before teleporting away again. Dream warily watches him leave, still shaking from the sudden attack. He watches the woods for a long while, waiting for the Dreamon to come back and attack him again. When he finally gets the nerve to get up and try to find his way back, he walks straight into an invisible wall.</p><p>His head tilts to one side in confusion.</p><p>A barrier? When did the Dreamon make this?</p><p>He rests a hand on the invisible wall and starts to follow it to see where it goes. To his dismay, he’s lead in a complete circle with a radius of six feet. He tries to fly up to see how high it goes, but he remains on the ground. Dream panics as he tries to figure out what happened when the Dreamon threw him into this cage.</p><p>His mind whirls with possibilities before he goes to test his first theory.</p><p>He kneels on the ground and reaches down. The green grass beneath his hands bend. He stares at it in shock. Agony wells up within his chest as he plays with the strands. They bend and weave through his fingers, complying as he fiddles with them.</p><p>In a fit of desperation, he starts to tear at it, ripping the grass out of the dirt. When that’s no longer enough, he claws at the ground like a rabid animal. Dirt packs under his nails and sticks to his hands uncomfortably. Tears blur his vision when he resorts to punching his way through the stone underneath. His knuckles are bleeding and bruised by the time he hits another invisible wall.</p><p>He wails a haunting cry.</p><p>Dream shatters.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Things come to an end, for better or worse.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the largest fandom I've been apart of to date and I am startled by how many comments I got in one day, thank you to everyone who left me one! I rewrote this ending three times and I finally got one I'm happy with. Enjoy!!</p><p>I uhhhhhhhh really diverged from what the OG post suggested hahahahaha! I have no excuses, but at least the first chapter was pretty close to what OP wanted right??? Right??????</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Dreamon is angry and pulsing with disgusting energy.</p><p>Dream ignores it. Distantly, he hopes the others manage to kill it, for their own sake more than his, but he has no way of telling what’s happening.</p><p>Tears have been leaking from his eyes for days. Drops of water fill his dark little eyes and drop into the hole he made in his human form. If he were mortal, he would have cried himself into dehydration, but Dream’s true form has oceans in its core and rain in his heart. His tears fall down his face like dew trickles down the petals of wildflowers. Slow and steady. Morning after morning. A never-ending cycle.</p><p>He could cry for years and never run dry.</p><p>The Dreamon’s energy flares and storm clouds begin to fill the sky. In the distance, a booming voice echoes throughout the world.</p><p>
  <strong>“I am everything wrong with this world, you can’t kill <em>me</em>!”</strong>
</p><p>Thunder rolls and lightning cracks, but Dream’s small white body doesn’t move from its spot even as the rain comes down. His form becomes swamped in a dirty soup of mud and strands of loose grass, and still, he refuses to move from the overflowing hole. It’s difficult to tell if he’s shaking from the force of his own emotions or the biting wind. He hardly registers what’s happening around him, consumed in his own despair.</p><p>-/kill TommyInnit? y/n?</p><p>Yellow words appear in front of him. Confusion nudges at the layer of sorrow clouding his mind and Dream has to blink away his tears in order to properly read the command in front of him. He responds sluggishly, but decisively.</p><p>-n</p><p>Another prompt appears immediately.</p><p>-/kill Tubbo_? y/n?</p><p>His response is still slow but without any hesitance.</p><p>-n</p><p>Another.</p><p>-/kill Technoblade? y/n?</p><p>-n</p><p>And another.</p><p>-/kill Quackity? y/n?</p><p>-n</p><p>And another.</p><p>-/kill ItsFundy? y/n?</p><p>Until his core solidifies from water to stone (stone to iron, iron to diamond) and he starts spamming his response for every prompt he gets.</p><p>George, Sapnap, Bad, Philza, Niki, Puffy, Eret – it doesn’t matter who pops up, he denies their deaths over and over again. He does so with rising glee. This. He can do something about this. He can prevent this.</p><p><strong>“I am <em>sick</em> and <em>tired</em> of you ruining everything!” </strong>The Dreamon’s voice roars, far in the distance. He focuses on it now, still spamming his response but with more attention paid to the anger he feels from the Dreamon. <strong>“If you want to live in a world where attachments are a weakness - if you want to keep being the villains in each other's stories - if you want to tear each other to shreds then <em>fine</em>.”</strong></p><p>Dream pauses for a moment as the words sink in. The water-dampened cogs in his mind working to turn the words over and over.</p><p>-/kill Punz? y/n?</p><p>-n</p><p>-/kill WilburSoot? y/n?</p><p>-n</p><p>
  <strong>“I’ll make sure everything ends with me!”</strong>
</p><p>Multiple prompts come in at once, repeating the same list that Dream has already denied, and he rushes through their rejection to find a break in the prompts to try to send a message.</p><p><em>Dream</em>: Is this really what you want?</p><p>To his surprise, not only does it go through, but he also gets a response.</p><p><em>Dreamon</em>: SHUT UP</p><p>He persists.</p><p><em>Dream</em>: You can’t control people if they’re gone.</p><p><em>Dream</em>: Aren’t you tired?</p><p><em>Dreamon</em>: NO</p><p>It’s a lie. Dream can sense it.</p><p>There’s silence from the Dreamon’s end and a dent pounds itself into Dream’s core. It’s not as painful as L’manberg but it’s enough for Dream to notice it. He quickly checks his friends’ health. Green tethers stretch down into the land, fastened tightly to Dream’s spirit. Some are slightly unraveled, but none are severed – not like Ghostbur, who is no longer anchored to anything.</p><p>No one died.</p><p>The fight is still going on.</p><p>Dream waits a while, monitoring the thick green lines and continuing to respond to the prompts he’s given. He’s unsure of how to proceed with the Dreamon. He can feel It losing power and the speech from earlier continues to sink in and engrave itself into Dream’s mind. The Dreamon’s power falls with each passing moment.</p><p>Eventually, it stagnates.</p><p>Is it over?</p><p>Dream sends the messages he prepared.</p><p><em>Dream</em>: Well, I’m tired</p><p><em>Dream</em>: You know I want to go home too.</p><p><em>Dreamon</em>: We could have if that little SHIT hadn’t messed it all up</p><p><em>Dreamon</em>: He ruined everything</p><p>Dream would be lying if he said he didn’t know who the Dreamon was talking about. Tommy had been the catalyst that brought about many of the wars and mayhem, but…</p><p>Tommy, when he wasn’t getting up to rule-breaking and general Tommy-ness, was actually really fun to hang out with. He was ridiculous and funny and he had good ideas when he wanted to.</p><p>And he wasn’t the only person to blame for everything going wrong.</p><p><em>Dream</em>: He makes things interesting</p><p><em>Dream</em>: And sometimes fun</p><p>The Dreamon apparently didn’t agree.  </p><p>-/weather (thunder)? y/n?</p><p>Dream sees the prompt for what it really is. He eyes it cautiously but comes to the conclusion that will either help the Dreamon calm down or rile it back up.</p><p>-y</p><p>The storm above his head worsens. Rain falls so hard it almost hurts and the wind picks up enough to uproot small plants. The sky splits from the force of the thunder. Lighting strikes any and every unfortunately-tall trees like it had a personal vendetta against anything that dared to reach so high into the sky.</p><p>-/kill TommyInnit? y/n?</p><p>-n</p><p>-/kill TommyInnit? y/n?</p><p>-n</p><p>-/kill TommyInnit? y/n?</p><p>-n</p><p>-/kill TommyInnit? y/n?</p><p>-n</p><p>Dream can feel his counterpart lose itself in the rage and really hopes he made the right decision. He tries to give It a nudge.</p><p>-<em>Dream</em>: I like his dumb towers</p><p>-<em>Dream</em>: and that stupid fortune booth that only gives out bad fortunes</p><p>A long period goes by where Dream’s tiny body endures the sky-splitting weather. Doubt creeps in and he wonders if he’s doomed them all by taking the leap of faith. The one time he can help his friends in nearly a year and all he did was make everything worse. His shattered heart is nearly pulverized into dust at the thought.</p><p>Then, bit by bit, the loathing the Dreamon feels seeps out with the rain and thunder. Dream waits for what feels like years for a response.</p><p>-<em>Dreamon</em>: I just wanted things to go back to how they were</p><p>-<em>Dreamon</em>: I am tired</p><p>Relief bursts into Dream’s chest like a firework and smooth satisfaction follows it as the confirmation of his suspicions is presented to him in yellow text. He was right after all.</p><p>The Dreamon used to be apart of him, so it made sense that his motivations would be the same as Dream. Even if the end didn’t justify the means, the Dreamon’s goal had ultimately been to make a space where he could have fun with his friends with no wars, no griefing, and no destruction of beloved pets and property.</p><p>-/weather (clear)? y/n?</p><p>-y</p><p>Just like that, it’s over.</p><p>…</p><p><em>Dreamon</em>: They’re going to put me in the prison</p><p><em>Dreamon</em>: How dumb are these people actually</p><p>Dream is too exhausted to muster more than a weak feeling of happiness that everything is coming to an end. Still, he can’t help but feel frustrated that no one has realized the Dreamon is in control of his body.</p><p><em>Dream</em>: They still haven’t figured it out?</p><p><em>Dreamon</em>: Nope.</p><p><em>Dreamon</em>: lmao watch this</p><p>Dream isn’t sure what exactly the Dreamon wants him to watch because nothing happens for a long moment.</p><p><em>Dream</em>: uhhhhh?</p><p><em>Dreamon</em>: What? That was funny!</p><p><em>Dream</em>: What did you do?</p><p>There’s a pause and an intense feeling of judgement from the Dreamon’s end.</p><p><em>Dreamon</em>: ARE YOU STILL STUCK BEHIND MY BARRIER HAHAHAHAHAHA</p><p>Exhaustion fades away a bit as indignation takes its place. What was the Dreamon expecting? For him to break out? Like he hadn’t tried that already?</p><p>Dream would scowl at the Dreamon if he could.</p><p><em>Dream</em>: Fuck off.</p><p><em>Dreamon</em>: They know I’m a Dreamon now so stop whining.</p><p>That’s perfectly fine with Dream as he continues to sulk.</p><p>So long as this whole thing comes to an end.</p><p>…</p><p>“Hello?” A familiar ghostly voice calls and Dream slowly looks up from his mud puddle.</p><p>“Dream?” Ghostbur emerges from the forest, a blue sheep in tow. “Where did you go?”</p><p>A green slime-like substance leaves Dream’s body, swirling briefly around him before it solidifies into his human form, “I’m here.”</p><p>Ghostbur smiles when he sees him, “I found you! Look, I named him ‘Friend’!”</p><p>Dream looks befuddled at the sheep and gives it a small wave.</p><p>“You look terrible.” The ghost says bluntly.</p><p>“I know.” Dream responds with a shaky voice. His scuffed-up form transferred over and Dream knows he looks worse than terrible. His green hoodie is practically black from all the time he spent neck-deep in the mud. The only green Ghostbur can see is from the blades of grass that cling stubbornly to his clothes. Dream hides his bruised and scabbed hands behind his back. They’re no longer swollen and broken, but they still hurt when he moves them.</p><p>He’s exhausted and his human face conveys it beneath the mask with dark bags and drooping eyelids.</p><p>“I told the others I would come find you, but they didn’t want me to!” Ghostbur bounces, “I think they’re still confused about you, so I came to find you anyway.”</p><p>“Wait, don’t you melt in the rain?” Dream begins to panic. He had let his counterpart rage in the form of a rainstorm while Ghostbur was <em>outside</em>?</p><p>“I found a nice village when the sky went dark!” Ghostbur cheerfully tells him, “The villagers let me stay with them.”</p><p>Dream’s heart is having a hard time processing how lucky Ghostbur is when the ghost walks towards him. He hits his face on the barrier before Dream can stop him.</p><p>Ghostbur looks at the invisible wall with betrayal and confusion. “Dream?”</p><p>“I’m stuck, Ghostbur.” He admits gloomily.</p><p>“But…” Ghostbur pats at the wall trying to find a way in, “But I found you!”</p><p>“You did.” Dream fondly nods his head, “Thank you.”</p><p>“You should be able to come with me.” Ghostbur whines, anxiously pulling out blue dye from his pocket. “Let me in.”</p><p>“I don’t think I can.” Dream shakes his head, voice soft and contemplating. He couldn’t reach the top of the barrier and he couldn’t dig out. He hadn’t tried to get rid of the barrier, figuring he had as much power as he did when he was a specter. The Dreamon had been too powerful back then for him to do much. But the Dreamon had acted like he could so maybe now...  </p><p>“But…” Ghostbur repeats, looking at the wall and then Dream with distress while the green man thinks. Ghostbur gasps suddenly, interrupting Dream’s thought process, “Philza! Philza can get you out!”</p><p>Dream is fairly certain Phil cannot, in fact, get him out, but he’ll let Ghostbur have this.</p><p><em>-Ghostbur</em>: I found Dream!</p><p>Dream chokes when the message shows up for everyone to see. “I thought I told you not to let people know you can see me!”</p><p>Ghostbur gives him an innocent look, “But Phil can get you out!”</p><p>Dream puts his head in his hands, immediately regrets it when pain rockets through his abused hands, then buries his head in his arms instead and groans. At least he has some time before anyone shows up to try his escape attempt.</p><p>He moves to press a mangled hand against the barrier, then thinks better of it and kicks it instead. His foot makes contact with the invisible wall and it breaks through. He can see the barrier now and the hole that he just made, but he doesn’t share Ghostbur’s excitement over his escape.</p><p>Instead, his feelings over a successful escape attempt are directly hindered by all the comments he overheard about people wanting to put his head on a spike. It didn’t matter that they were talking about the Dreamon, he doesn’t want to fight his friends right now. A lot of people were angry at him and they might try to fight him as soon as they see him. Vulnerability aside, even if he has regained the ability to summon anything he wants, he’s not keen on having all their hatred towards the Dreamon turned on him.</p><p>He puts the barrier back.</p><p>…</p><p>As Dream predicted, instead of just Philza showing up, the whole server comes.</p><p>It takes a large amount of effort to resist hiding back in his mudhole when he gets the first glimpse of fully enchanted netherite armor. He manages to stay out in the open, but he can’t bring himself to watch as they get closer.</p><p>He doesn’t want to see the anger in their posture, the hatred in their eyes, and he really <em>really</em> doesn’t want to see the betrayal in their hearts.</p><p>“Oh, what the fuck?!”</p><p>“Dream?!”</p><p>“Wait, Dream?”</p><p>He hears them yell as they approach, their boots clanking against the underbrush at a faster pace to reach him, but Dream’s eyes stubbornly remain on his hands. He tunes them out with the ease of someone who had been ignored for a long time.</p><p>“I told you I found him!” Ghostbur preens somewhere in the cacophony.</p><p>“I can’t believe it.”</p><p>“Dream!”</p><p>“Oh Ender, there really are two of them.”</p><p>“Dream! <em>Dream</em>!” </p><p>“What the fuck!? Don’t ignore me!”</p><p>There’s a chuckle from the back of the group that slices through the noise. Silence descends when Dream looks up to find the source and his eyes latch onto the Dreamon being escorted along by Sam, Punz, and Sapnap.</p><p>The Dreamon looks marginally less tired than Dream feels. His head is raised proudly but his body sways dangerously every now and again. There are dark splotches on his body that Dream suspects is someone’s blood and the angry face painted on his mask has fractures in it.</p><p>“You look like shit.” The Dreamon tells him, resignation hidden beneath an air of smugness. </p><p>“You should look in a mirror.” Dream responds with a shrug.</p><p>“Um, Dream?” Ghostbur says, nervously trying to put distance between the Dreamon and himself, “I don’t like being so close to…him. Can Friend and I come in with you?”</p><p>Dream shifts his weight in preparation for getting up to let Ghostbur in when Friend walks straight through the barrier. Ghostbur follows the sheep safely into the enclosed space after it by the lead that connects the two. Dream stares.</p><p>“That’s an…interesting sheep you have.” He says, dumbfounded. Ghostbur sits next to him on the grass and Friend drops down behind them.</p><p>“He’s immortal.” Ghostbur chirps unhelpfully and scratches the sheep’s chin.</p><p>“O-kay.” The Dreamon says, “That was weird. Can we all agree that was weird?”</p><p>“How was that weird? Are you stupid? Huh, bitch?” Tommy goads, “All he did was walk! ‘ooooh look at me I’m a sheep and I’m going to go over he-’” Tommy cuts himself off when he walks straight into the barrier face first.</p><p>The Dreamon and Dream wheeze. Dream is so emotionally strained that he quickly dissolves into a fit of laughter while the Dreamon attempts to recall what happened, “You just – you’re so stupid – ‘oooh look at me I’m going to walk – to walk straight into a wall - !’”</p><p>Ghostbur lets Dream lean on him while he tries to recover, but makes his laughing fit worse when the ghost comments, “We really are brothers aren’t we, Tommy?”</p><p>It’s not that funny in all honesty but Dream is borderline hysterical at this point. Ghostbur must realize Dream is spiraling into a breakdown because he wraps an arm around Dream’s shoulders and pulls him in. Friend munches on his pants, trying to get to the grass stuck on his clothes.</p><p>The mixture of worry and confusion on the faces around them helps Dream calm down, but it’s the look on Tommy’s face as he realizes Dream is stuck behind the barrier that makes him sober up completely.   </p><p>“You’re real?” Sapnap asks, sounding small for all the armor on him. His sword is lowered when he steps to the front, eyes alight with hope. Dream wants nothing more than to lie to him, but he can’t.</p><p>“No.” He confesses, “Not the way you want me to be.”</p><p>“What?” Tubbo interrupts, “But we split you up from the Dreamon, you <em>have</em> to be Dream!”</p><p>“You don’t get it yet?” The Dreamon mocks savagely. The air goes frigid. The fighters of the land point their weapons at the Dreamon. Sapnap whirls around the fastest, his expression shuttering. The others glare at him.</p><p>Quackity grabs a fistful of the Dreamon’s hoodie, “I knew this was just a trick!”</p><p>The Dreamon laughs in his face, “You guys are so stupid! Shall I repeat what I said to Tommy before with a little addendum?”</p><p>Multiple people flinch at that, but the Dreamon doesn’t seem to care as he continues, looming threateningly despite shaking on his feet, “I’ve always been one step ahead of you. I’ve been so many steps ahead of you, you still think I’m Dream.”</p><p>Wait, was this what the Dreamon found so funny? Was this how he revealed the truth?</p><p>Dream doesn’t find it nearly as funny as the Dreamon apparently thought he would. Tommy is pale and gripping his sword (is that Dream’s sword?) with white knuckles and planting himself in front of Tubbo. Sapnap has bared his teeth, looking ready to throw himself at the Dreamon. Ghostbur shifts with a distressed whine.</p><p>“I’m so many steps ahead of you, you still haven’t figure out that Dream is <em>dead</em>.”</p><p>“Then who is that?” George snaps at him, sticking close to Sapnap after he makes a choked noise at the Dreamon’s comment. The two brush shoulders, trying to take comfort in each other, and Dream’s heart aches at the sight.</p><p>“Using most of the words of my counterpart,” Dream answers, cutting off whatever taunt the Dreamon was going to respond with, “I am everything good that happens on this server.”</p><p>“A Dreangel.” Phil clarifies from the front of the group, “Neither of you is the real Dream. You’re just his two halves.” </p><p>“Hence why he was so weak and pathetic.” The Dreamon snarls, “Nothing good ever happens on this server anymore.”</p><p>“That’s not true.” Ghostbur argues, and others murmur their agreements, “He gave me blue.”</p><p>The Dreamon doesn’t look impressed and everyone else looks at the ghost like he’s insane. “That’s not what I was going for when I agreed with you but yeah sure.” Ranboo comments.</p><p>“And he helped me escape from your prison!” Ghostbur tacks on as an afterthought.</p><p>“Oh, you mean during that time when everyone was banding together to fight me? The only time everyone has agreed on something in years?” The condescending tone makes everyone shuffle uncomfortably.</p><p>“Tubbo? Fundy?” Dream, now identified by everyone as the Dreangel, deliberately changes the subject, “Can you put us back together?”</p><p>“I…” Tubbo hesitates and pulls out a worn leather-bound book from his pocket. The pages are stuffed with placeholders and many of the corners are creased making it appear thicker than it really is. It’s one of the oldest books in the land. He flips through the pages until he reaches his fourth bookmark, “I think so.”</p><p>The Dreamon scowls, “Why don’t you put yourselves back together before you bother trying with us.”</p><p>“They’re allowed to have their own countries.” The Dreangel scolds.</p><p>“I don’t know if you’ve noticed Dreangel, but making their own countries lead to <em>him</em>.” The Dreamon gestures at Ghostbur.</p><p>“Because <em>you</em> gave him the TNT!” Tommy yells, “And Technoblade was the one that summoned the withers!”</p><p>“I told you I didn’t like governments and you went and made one right in front of me!” Techno stresses, “I’ve told you this so many times!”</p><p>“Shut up Techno-” Quackity starts.</p><p>“If Schlatt hadn’t-” Fundy joins.</p><p>“Well, if you-” Tommy snaps.</p><p>The Dreangel feels the Dreamon’s power spark and flicker. Across the clearing, he can see the Dreamon looks about as happy about the situation as the Dreangel does despite being the one to start the argument. Next to him, Ghostbur hunches in on himself and presses closer to the Dreangel.</p><p>“ENOUGH!” Puffy puts her foot down, “This isn’t helping!”</p><p>Everyone quiets down at Puffy’s outburst. The adults bow their heads in shame and Tommy pouts at the scolding. Fundy and Tubbo quickly turn their attention to the book and Punz coughs awkwardly.</p><p>Phil turns to the Dreangel, “Can you get out?”</p><p>The Dreangel shares a look with Ghostbur, not wanting to admit how little he trusts his legs to hold his weight.</p><p>“I can carry you if you want.” Ghostbur offers a little excitedly. The Dreangel sighs, he wasn’t about to let the man carry his heavier form around and they both knew it.</p><p>The ghost had seen the Dreangel’s true form and had been delighted by it, no doubt he was ecstatic to be able to cart the Dreangel around on his head again, this time with people who could actually see the little white blob Ghostbur was so proud to be a taxi for.</p><p>That being said, the Dreangel wasn’t keen on showing his smaller form to the entire server. He might retain all of his powers, but he feels so small compared to everyone else that he can practically already hear the jeers and laughter.</p><p>“I’ve got it, Ghostbur, thank you.” The Dreangel says. His body goes weightless as he levitates off of the ground and gently floats out of the hole Friend made. He hears the shift of grass as the sheep guides Ghostbur out after him.</p><p>“Right.” Philza claps his hands, “Now, Hunters, what do we do next?”</p><p>“Oh shit, what happened to your hands?” Tommy interrupts, catching sight of the Dreangel’s hands.</p><p>“It’s been a rough couple of days.” He answers and hopes Tommy will leave it at that.</p><p>The boy nearly doesn’t, but a stern look from Philza puts a stop to any comment or question he was about to voice.</p><p>“Dream – sorry – Dreangel?” Tubbo says, “Come over here please.”</p><p>He begins to fly over, going around the cluster of SMP members, but he stops when he notices Fundy building a dirt mound. “Tubbo if you put me on another altar and split me in half again, I’m not going to be very happy.”</p><p>“No splitting this time, I promise.” Tubbo reassures with a guilty smile. The Dreangel decides to trust him and hovers where he’s asked to. The Dreamon is put into a containment circle nearby. Dream takes in the slump to the Dreamon’s shoulders.</p><p>“I meant what I said.” The Dreangel whispers and his mirror image looks back at him.</p><p>“Nothing is going to change.” The Dreamon mutters sullenly. The Dreangel wishes he could argue against it, but he doesn’t hold much hope either. Despite everything, the fights and wars will continue. Items will be used as blackmail, weapons will be pointed at one another, pets will be slain, and in the end, there was nothing either of Dream’s halves could do about it.</p><p>Fundy’s ears flick, “What’s not going to change?”</p><p>The Dreamon snarls suddenly and slams a fist into the containment barrier. Everyone recoils at the loud noise.</p><p>“<em>Everything</em>!” He growls, “You called us meddlers! You <em>split us up</em>!”</p><p>The Dreamon turns on the Dreangel with a snarl, “We tried it your way – we tried mediating and keeping them together, but they made us out to be the villain!”</p><p>The sheer amount of anger radiating from the Dreamon shocks him. The Dreangel would have thought his counterpart would be too tired after everything to get so angry, especially since it didn’t have anything to do with Tommy. Yet, somehow, there’s a fire burning the Dreamon from the inside out consuming him and lashing out at everyone in range.</p><p>“So I gave them one.” The Dreamon glares, every fiber of his body coiled like a snake, “I gave them someone to hate and I tried controlling them through force – !”</p><p>The offense on their behalf is so deeply rooted in what the Dreamon perceives as righteous anger that it starts to seep into the Dreangel.</p><p>“Now look where we are!”</p><p>No one can get a word in edgewise. Or perhaps they can, the Dreangel registers the protests drifting up from the crowd around them, but he’s too focused on how every word hissed out by the Dreamon stabs his core.</p><p>“They wanted a villain so badly-”</p><p>He remembers Sapnap immediately joining Tommy’s side on the first disc war until Dream offered him payment. He was always supposed to be on <em>Dream’s</em> side, not Tommy’s.</p><p>“They started a country based on drugs and called us a tyrant!”</p><p>He remembers being surprised the first time they called him that. He didn’t understand where it came from. Drugs were illegal and Wilbur wanted to have his own exclusive club right in the middle of Dream’s land. Wilbur broke the law and somehow Dream was the villain? Of course he was. Wilbur hadn’t wanted to fight, he just wanted the land without any kind of negotiation. Dream had lashed out, perhaps unfairly, but he was <em>always</em> going to throw the first punch. He was always going to be the villain.</p><p>“They split us up so I would be in control! Me! The worst part of us!”</p><p>Then Tommy had taken the discs – Dream’s discs – back, starting another war. Tommy wanted to be the hero so badly, but he needed a villain and it was always going to be he and Tubbo against Dream. Tubbo must have known.</p><p>“They wanted this from the start!”</p><p>The Dreangel looks back at Tubbo and sees the child shaking his head slowly with tears running down his face. He’s hiding behind Tommy. Tubbo would feel bad, he supposes, but that doesn’t mean Tommy didn’t talk him into it.</p><p>“And when I finally gave them what they wanted, there was no space left for <em>us</em>!”</p><p>He turns his gaze to look out over the sea of people, all banded together to fight their common enemy. Some are sad, like Tubbo and Puffy. But most of the others are angry and arguing, trying to get a word in edgewise. The Dreangel doesn’t have any energy left to cry about how they filled in the gap Dream left with hatred – how they didn’t even realize anything was wrong with ‘Dream’ – how quick they were to accept that Dream had stopped caring about them.</p><p>His shoulders sag as he realizes all the tears he had cried out of fear for that exact thing were not in vain.</p><p>“They’ll put us back together just to hate us again!”</p><p>He knows. He’d been too scared to admit the truth but there it is in the layer of despair under the Dreamon’s yells.</p><p>He spares one glance at George, Sapnap, and Puffy but none of them have voiced a protest. They stand stock still, pale and horrified.</p><p>“They’ll keep making us play the part they gave us and you know it!”</p><p>He turns back to his counterpart. Pearl shaped tears have formed in the eyes of the Dreamon’s cracked mask, “So what’s the <em>fucking</em> point?”</p><p>The Dreangel uproots himself, finally able to leave his spot now that the flames had died down, and approaches the Dreamon.</p><p>He holds out a blood-crusted and mangled hand.</p><p>The Dreamon jolts in shock and slowly looks down at it.</p><p>“Did you mean it?” The Dreangel asks. Desperate hands pass through his form, trying to pull him away from the circle. Two black dots meet his and the memory of their previous conversation passes between them.</p><p>“Yes.” The Dreamon whispers.</p><p>“Then let’s go.” He leans forward almost conspiratorially, moving his outstretched hand into the circle so the Dreamon can take it. He does and the two vanish without a sound.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Do you guys want an epilogue? Did you like the ending? Please let me know, I am just a smol creachur...</p><p>Edit: I am writing the epilogue and it might be longer than the actual story hahahhaha</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Apparently I'm not done with this fic so here we go.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There are very few words to describe how he feels right now, but disoriented is a close one. Having one’s conscious forcibly ripped in two and then put back together after an extended period of time makes for one hell of a headache and a massive amount of confusion. When the Dreamon and Dreangel fused back together Dream returned with all his memories back and then some.</p><p>Their combined pain and exhaustion are the most prominent. His body feels like he ran a couple laps around the entire world before picking a fight with an ender dragon. He aches from the fight - <em>from sitting for days crying his eyes out</em>, his mask is broken - <em>his mask is smeared from the tears,</em> his clothes are damp with his own spilled blood - <em>from sitting in the same puddle of mud for hours</em>, his armor is gone – <em>he hasn’t had armor in a long time</em>, his head hurts - <em>his heart hurts</em>, he’s angry – <em>he’s sad</em>, <strong>he’s tired</strong>.</p><p>On top of the physical trauma, his memories aren’t doing much better. They overlap and diverge, weaving in and out of one another in a pattern he can’t quite see yet. Memories were supposed to be sequential, one after another, but with two different memories of the same events playing out in his mind, it makes the entire experience seem much longer than it really was. He knows, logically, that the memories occurred simultaneously and not one after another, but he struggles to reconcile this fact in his mind.</p><p>It gives him a massive migraine.</p><p>New emotions mix with the old as he recalls memories from one perspective and then watches it play out from another. He desperately needs to make sense of his own head, but he’s going to need a lot of time to do so. His mind is a messy, frayed quilt of emotions and memories, and his body certainly doesn’t feel any better but at least he can deal with the physical trauma fairly easily.</p><p>The first thing he does when he lands in the Dreamon’s hidden home is pass out flat on the floor.</p><p>…</p><p>“WHERE THE FUCK DID THEY GO?!” Quackity shrieks in a panic, horrified to see the empty spot where the Dreamon was supposed to be and setting off a horrendous cacophony of panicked shouting from the rest of the group.</p><p>“What just happened!?” Bad yells over everyone, “They were right there!”</p><p>“How did he leave the circle?” Fundy’s tail flicks with confusion and his ears are tucked back in distress.</p><p>“The Dreangel must have let him out!” Tubbo frantically flips through the pages of his Dreamon Hunter book with shaking hands, trying to shake off the overwhelming guilt the Dreamon had stirred up, “But why would it-”</p><p>“Oh my God.” Philza rubs the bridge of his nose, “Techno will you-”</p><p>A firework catapults out of Technoblade’s crossbow and explodes above the clearing, “The next person to speak without being asked to is going to find their head on the other end of my sword.”</p><p>The clearing is quiet after that.</p><p>“Tubbo.” The president of L’manburg jolts upright at the sound of his name from Phil’s mouth and he nearly drops his book in surprise, “What happened?”</p><p>“I think…” Tubbo starts, nervously fiddling with the pages of the book, “well, the Dreangel left his spot, which isn’t – we didn’t put him in a containment circle, so he was able to go over to the Dreamon even though we tried to stop him – and he grabbed his hand and then they both just <em>vanished</em>, but I don’t know where.”</p><p>“What about the compasses?” Fundy asks and George, Bad, Sapnap, and Antfrost scramble to pull out the compasses they made to track the Dreamon when the SMP Alliance had formed to hunt ‘Dream’ down. Everyone without a compass hovers around the nearest hunter to get a look as well.</p><p>“It’s not locking on.” Ant declares as they all observe the frozen needle. It points north and doesn’t turn no matter how Ant moves the compass around. George, Bad, and Sapnap confirm the same for their compasses.</p><p>“Is Dream gone?” A quiet voice barely gets through the heavy silence. Ghostbur floats over to Phil with Friend in tow.</p><p>“The Dreamon is gone so it would make sense for the Dreangel to be gone too.” Ant further clarifies. “The other option is that they went to a different world, but if that was the case the needle would be spinning.”</p><p>“So he’s dead?” Eret asks. The hunters share a look and the SMP waits with bated breath for an answer.</p><p>“It’s...possible.” Ant nods hesitantly, not quite believing it. Many people are overcome with relief at his words, but the rest are too experienced or too pessimistic to join in.</p><p>“What are the other options?” Tommy cuts in. His hands tremble a little when he asks and the teen scowls down at them as if they betrayed him.</p><p>“The compass would stop working if its target ceased to exist.” George explains, “If he were a ghost or if he respawned, we would still be able to track him.”</p><p>“So he’s gone for good?” Tommy asks quietly, “He didn’t go anywhere? He didn’t respawn?”</p><p>George and Ant shake their heads. Sapnap stares down at his compass with a shadowed expression and Bad passes his compass around so everyone can confirm for themselves that the needle is stuck.</p><p>“They didn’t just vanish though, did they?” Ranboo seizes everyone’s attention. His hand is raised like a student in class, but when all eyes turn to him, he shyly lowers it. “I mean, I don’t think they would have just decided to stop existing.”</p><p>“I’m with Ranboo” Niki turns to Ant, “It can’t be that easy, can it…?”</p><p>“I guess there could be other ways of ceasing to exist?” Ant’s ears flick curiously, “We are talking about a Dreamon.”</p><p>“I think that’s our domain, Tubbo.” Fundy says, nudging the teen gently.</p><p>All eyes turn to Tubbo.</p><p>The lead hunter is staring down at his book with glazed eyes and doesn’t acknowledge Fundy’s words until an elbow in the side from Tommy snaps him out of it. He shakes his head and runs one hand through his hair.</p><p>“I don’t-” He begins to deny and then backtracks. His mind whirls with the events of the day. The information he hadn’t processed yet finally sinking in as everyone turns to him <em>again</em> for all the answers.  “This book is vague and I-”</p><p>“You split them up in the first place Tubbo.” Sapnap says, looking up from his compass with a fire that is hardly concealed behind his eyes, “You should know more than anyone else here.”</p><p>“I – It was an accident! We thought we-” Tubbo tries to defend but the guilt that had settled in the pit of his stomach the moment they realized who ‘Dream’ really was (and had swelled as the Dreamon raged against the barrier and the Dreangel grew smaller as it accepted the Dreamon’s words for fact) refuses to be shoved down again.</p><p>“Now is not the-” Phil steps in, but falters mid-step by the person who interrupts him.</p><p>“Where did they go?” Puffy interjects. Phil gives her a sympathetic look while everyone else either avoids her gaze or looks at her with pity.</p><p>“Puffy…” Niki lifts her hands, to placate or comfort she’s not sure, but when Puffy steps back as she approaches, she realizes it’s no use.</p><p>“No.” The hybrid denies the comfort, “You told me you could put my duckling back together and now you’re saying he’s gone for good?” It’s less of a question and more of a demand holding all the weight of a worried mother who knows her child was mistreated in some way and wants to know what happened.</p><p>Tubbo, who’s back had stiffened when he first heard her, slowly turns to face the woman behind him with tears in his eyes. “Puffy, I am so sorry.” He shakes and tears start to fall down his face again. He scrambles for an answer, an excuse, <em>anything</em>, “I didn’t – I didn’t know – It wasn’t supposed to – I didn’t realize they were so – so <em>hurt</em>.”</p><p>A hand lands on Tubbo’s shoulder and he looks up to see Phil was taking mercy on him. Another hand lands on his other shoulder and Tommy silently reminds him that he hasn’t left his side. The two stood by him under Puffy’s intense gaze.</p><p>Philza starts, “Puffy, there’s nothing Tubbo can do now that the Dreamon and Dreangel are gone.”</p><p>Puffy gives them a pleading look, “Surely there’s something you could do. There has to be <em>something</em> in that book!”</p><p>Phil squeezes Tubbo’s shoulder as the boy continues to shake, “I don’t – I don’t <em>know</em>. I don’t think I can summon a specific Dreamon and we need the Dreangel too…”</p><p>“If there is a way, I’ll help find it.” Fundy adds, coming to stand next to Tubbo with hunched shoulders, “I’m a hunter too, Tubbo isn’t the only one to blame for this.”</p><p>“<em>Hell</em> no!” Quackity interjects, “You are not summoning that thing back here! It’s gone so let it stay gone!”</p><p>The group whirls on Quackity with varying degrees of disbelief and upset as he continues, “The Dreamon could get out or it could make Dream worse! Puffy I’m sorry, but I think it’s best to leave it alone.”</p><p>“But if you just put him back together then it will all be okay right?” Puffy asks, pleading. “We can’t know until we try!”</p><p>The air goes frigid and Technoblade coughs awkwardly.</p><p>“No.” She glares at them, her stance hardening, “You can’t do this! You can’t blame him for not being in his right mind if he was in two pieces this entire time! You can’t just leave him like that!”</p><p>“Puffy…” Niki tries to approach again, but she backs away further from the group.</p><p>“I…I know what he did was bad, believe me, I was the first to join this group.” She says shakily, “But something terrible happened to my baby that made him like this, and I was the one who didn’t notice! I should have noticed something was wrong with him! If you’re going to blame someone, then blame me.”</p><p>“It’s okay Puffy.” Ghostbur tries to soothe. The ghost anxiously pets Friend on the head as he speaks, “No one else noticed either.”</p><p>Sapnap and George flinch at the same time that Punz and Sam pale. Tubbo and Fundy both avert their gaze to the ground and Puffy makes a distressed noise that pierces everyone’s heart.</p><p>“Except for me,” Ghostbur continues, not paying any attention to Techno’s frantic gestures to stop talking.</p><p>“What?” Tommy asks, voice laced with confusion and hurt. Ghostbur could have revealed what had happened sooner? He could have stopped the exile from ever happening?</p><p>Ghostbur nods, “He gave me blue whenever I wanted!”</p><p>“But why didn’t you say anything?” Tommy gives voice to the same question everyone else had.</p><p>“Dream said the Dreamon would hurt me if I said anything.” Ghostbur answered carefully, unsure why everyone around him didn’t look as comforted by his words as he thought they would be.</p><p>Puffy’s gloved hands cover her mouth in horror, “I – I need a moment.”</p><p>She vanishes into the forest, leaving behind a solemn atmosphere that soon erupts into discourse.</p><p>…</p><p>On a table in a cottage there lays a down-turned photograph. Its frame was shattered in a fit of anger and the photo itself was burned enough to obscure one of the figures. George and Sapnap thought about throwing it away but neither of them could bring themselves to do it.</p><p>The moment they get home Sapnap picks it up. His own goofy face looks back at him with one arm slung around the figure in the middle. On the other side of the photo, George is sticking his tongue out at him. He knows from memory that the man in the green hoodie, tucking them both under an arm and holding them close on either side of him, was frozen mid-laugh.</p><p>After El Rapids, George had flung the picture frame against the wall, the glass shattering on impact, and in a fit of his own rage he had snatched up the photo, ignoring the shards of glass biting into his fingers and burning Dream’s face out of the image.   </p><p>He looks down at it now with remorse and regret. He hadn’t realized that the person he was angry at wasn’t the person in the photo. George steps over to him and places a comforting hand on his shoulder, “We didn’t know.”</p><p>Sapnap shrugs him off, “Shouldn’t we have?”</p><p>George is silent at that. The memory of the Dreamon taunting Tommy, revealing to everyone that the real Dream was not present, hits him full force now. The Dreamon told plenty of lies and they hadn’t fully believed its words, but that little bit of doubt they held exploded when Tubbo had stepped forward and told everyone about the exorcism that had taken place almost a year ago.</p><p>Nearly a full year.</p><p>And none of them had noticed.</p><p>“He was our best friend, and we didn’t even notice anything was wrong!” He yells. “I’ve known him since we were kids and now…”</p><p>They had a chance. Fundy, Sapnap, and Tubbo knew about Dreamons and Tubbo’s book had a way to get Dream back, all they had to do was find his other half. Then, by some miracle, Wilbur had already found it.</p><p>All this time, Ghostbur knew. Why hadn’t he told them? Why hadn’t the Dreangel come to him instead of Ghostbur? Sapnap could have protected him and Ghostbur from the Dreamon! He could have helped!</p><p>He had been shocked to hear that he could get his friend (the one he befriended all those years ago and not the cold, manipulative man he thought Dream had become – his <em>real</em> friend) back. It was a relief to know that Dream hadn’t done all those horrible things and there was still a chance to go back to how things were when it was just the Dream Team against the world.</p><p>He should have known it was too good to be true.</p><p>Seeing the other Dream look so beaten and worn tore at his heart. At first, he thought they were wrong, that Dream had been around all this time just hidden away, but the Dreangel gently let him down. That was fine, he consoled himself, it wasn’t that important anyway, so long as they could get the real Dream back.</p><p>He knew something was going wrong when the Dreangel approached the Dreamon. He recognized that look in Dream’s eyes when he was about to do something others would disapprove of. Normally that gleam meant sneaking off and running through the woods. Now it’s left Sapnap feeling lost, once again without his best friend.  </p><p>Water drips onto the photo in his hands. He rubs his tears away quickly, but the loss was so unexpected and messy that the pain wouldn’t be solved by pretending he was okay.</p><p>“I thought he was already lost to us.” George admits suddenly. Sapnap looks up from the photo to see him crying too. “I pretended the Dream we knew was already dead, but now it’s like he was alive this whole time and I let him die again. All because I believed he was already gone.”</p><p>Sapnap throws his arms around George pulling him into a hug.</p><p>“We almost got him back.” George sobs, “We were so <em>close</em>.”</p><p>And that, Sapnap knows, is what hurts the most. They went into battle without any hope for the Dream they befriended and then soon after a spark was given to them, it was brutally snuffed out.</p><p>He wants to be angry about it. He wants to burn something. He wants to yell at his Dreamon hunter friends for what they did to the man he considered his brother. He wants to demand they find the two pieces of his friend and put them back together.</p><p>But he did all that in the clearing after Puffy left and he’s too tired to do it again today.</p><p>…</p><p>Dream feels much better when he wakes up two days later. He woke up twice, once to roll over and again to move to the bed sequestered into the corner of the room. His muscles are stiff but they don’t ache as badly and after downing two healing potions his wounds quickly sew themselves shut. He doesn’t need to eat but the lingering exhaustion leaves after he wolfs down a loaf of bread.</p><p>Unfortunately, his headache persists.</p><p>Something is definitely different. His mind is whole again but it’s as though some parts of him refused to reconnect. Like there are two outside parts of him, but he’s still whole - a Venn diagram with two sides peeking out on either side and a middle where he sits.</p><p>And that scares him.</p><p>He wants to be himself – not the horrible Dreamon and not the helpless Dreangel – he just wants to be one person, he wants to be Dream again.</p><p>It was so hard to see the good things that were happening from the Dreamon’s perspective and the Dreamon had overshadowed the Dreangel so much that <em>neither</em> of them could see the good in the world. Dream can remember presents under a tree, acts of kindness to Tommy while he was in exile, and general gentleness towards Ghostbur, but his two sides didn’t or couldn’t acknowledge it.</p><p>The Dreamon had felt vile, all his negative emotions bundled into one being. He was cold and angry, manipulative and dishonest, quick to lash out, and quicker to take inconsequential actions personally. It was raw emotion honed by a sharp mind and Dream hates how petulant and petty its actions were.</p><p>The Dreangel was simultaneously better and worse. It had felt stifling and horrible. He was ignored and weak, sad and tired, helpless and useless all in one. At least the Dreamon had done something – but no that’s a terrible thought, the Dreamon had done horrible things. At least the Dreangel had been kind to Ghostbur. At least the Dreangel hadn’t directly hurt anyone, but was that any better than not directly helping anyone?</p><p>There had to have been a better way, for both of them.</p><p>If they had been together – if he had been Dream none of this would have happened. He could have seen both sides clearly and made a decision, he wouldn’t have done all those awful things.</p><p>His mind doesn’t feel reconnected and he’s terrified.</p><p>He couldn’t handle being separated again.</p><p>He doesn’t want to hurt everyone again.</p><p><em>‘We should go back.’ </em>A voice in his head says,<em> ‘We have to pay for our crimes.’</em></p><p><em>‘We weren’t in our right mind, that wouldn’t be fair punishment!’ </em>Another argues.</p><p>
  <em>‘They would give us a trial.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Like they did to Technoblade?’</em>
</p><p>The voice is silent as he recalls the Butcher army from the Dreamon’s memories. They had come for the Piglin hybrid in his home, had taken his horse hostage, and had executed him without letting him defend himself. If it hadn’t been for the Dreamon, the hybrid would have lost one of his lives.</p><p>Trials were a farce, Dream knew this – had known this since he first discovered what his old village did to Corpse and Robin. If he wasn’t the one with the gavel they were little more than manhunts.</p><p>He’d get the same treatment.</p><p><em>‘I don’t want to die.’ </em>He thinks.</p><p>
  <em>‘They were going to put us – you – in prison.’</em>
</p><p>Obsidian walls surrounded by lava on all sides. A puddle of water, a clock, and a book as the only sources of entertainment. He can see himself in Ghostbur’s place. Sad and lonely and forgotten. He doesn’t want to be alone anymore – <em>he doesn’t want to hurt anyone anymore</em>.</p><p>
  <em>‘I don’t want to be put in that prison. Exile is enough…right?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘It wasn’t for Techno.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘They had to find him first.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Can they find us - me?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘They would have by now, I think.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We should leave. It’s not safe.’</em>
</p><p>Dream moves stiffly from where he was standing in the middle of the house arguing with himself. He begins to pack for a long journey.</p><p>The voices are silent.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You know when you have imaginary arguments with yourself that you always win? Couldn't be Dream.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sun beats down upon a hooded figure. The desert is harsh to travelers, its stifling heat and roaming husks make it difficult to cross, and for this traveler in particular its downright cruel. Their clothes are cut and dirty, dried blood mixed with dark mud staining their green cloak. Dirty blonde hair crusted with sweat and oil, is pulled up into a messy bun that spills out and sticks to the back of their neck. They look like they just walked off a battlefield.   </p><p>
  <em>‘I feel disgusting’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Yeah? What else is new?’</em>
</p><p>Dream groans at the voices, his migraine spiking as they start to speak again. The harsh light of the sun hasn’t done him any favors. His hood can only do so much against the bright sand surrounding him on all sides and it hurts to have to focus on sensing the world around him, but he has to keep moving.</p><p>
  <em>‘We could have at least stopped at that river.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘No. That would have been a waste of time.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Why? We have a head start on anyone trying to find us.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘You know that’s not it.’</em>
</p><p>They would have found him by now. He had slept for two full days and if they were hunting him, they would have caught up to him already. Maybe they just want him gone.</p><p>
  <em>‘They don’t want to deal with us anymore.’ </em>
</p><p>‘<em>They shouldn’t have to.</em>’</p><p>
  <em>‘They aren’t going to chase us.’</em>
</p><p>‘<em>They’re hunting us.’</em></p><p>
  <em>‘There was no time to wash.’ </em>
</p><p>‘<em>There was</em>.’</p><p>
  <strong>‘We just don’t deserve it.’</strong>
</p><p>He lets the thought stew. There certainly was a large part of him that acknowledged the reason they hadn’t stopped was out of guilt, but another part of him didn’t feel the same.</p><p>
  <em>‘…I still feel gross.’</em>
</p><p>Dream huffs irritably at the voice and keeps walking.</p><p>
  <em>‘Oh come on! We left the armor! Isn’t that enough self-punishment?’</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘No.’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Everything he had packed for the journey was from the Dreamon’s hideout, and while the creature had certainly been in possession of backups upon backups of items, the one thing he didn’t grab was the netherite armor. One glance at it and Dream had felt sick to his stomach. The armor seemed to tower over him, the memory of the Dreamon wearing it almost constantly – standing over him and his friends with a threatening stance-</p><p>
  <em>No, absolutely not – he doesn’t want to be the Dreamon anymore-!</em>
</p><p>He left without it, slinging iron armor over his shoulder (because the Dreangel never wore armor – couldn’t wear armor – and he doesn’t want to be Dreangel anymore either) and refusing to look back.</p><p>Now he stands in the middle of a desert with dirty clothes, iron armor, and a green cloak fluctuating between yellow and blue depending on which voice speaks. He didn’t bother grabbing a whole lot else.</p><p>And that’s not including the pieces of himself that are still sticking out like the quills of a particularly pathetic porcupine.</p><p>He continues to make his way through the desert, the sand shifting beneath his feet and sneaking into his boots. When he finally makes it to the end and the painfully bright sand softens into green savanna grass, he sighs in relief. His headache eases a little. At least he won’t have to spend the night in the desert again. For as hot as it was during the day, the nights were nothing short of freezing.</p><p>As the sun sets, he quickly assumes the form of a wolf. Mobs won’t bother other animals and he doesn’t have the desire or time to cut down a tree to build a hut. The sun sinks below the horizon, taking its harsh light with it. He curls up under a tree and tries to sleep.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>“Put your armor in the hole.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>“Just say you hate me.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>“Tommy, say goodbye to Tubbo.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>“He doesn’t care about us anymore.”</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>He can’t.</p><p>He <em>can’t</em>.</p><p>…</p><p>“We’re holding a funeral.” Bad says on their doorstep. It’s hard to say if he spent the past week mourning Dream. His white eyes give nothing away, but his clothes are different than normal and his voice is soft so maybe he’s just grieving differently than George and Sapnap.</p><p>It must have been hard without Skeppy around.  </p><p>The meeting over what to do about Dream had been a chaotic shouting match, neither Puffy nor Sapnap willing to back down on fixing him. The rest of the SMP was either painfully neutral or adamant that they leave it alone. The fighting had been brought to a halt when Tubbo came to the meeting with his head bowed and his shoulders hunched up by his ears, mumbling that there was no way to summon the Dreamon back even if they wanted to. George had been silent the entire time, supporting Sapnap by his presence alone, but he’d broken it with a pained noise when Tubbo dashed their hopes once again.</p><p>Bad had been on Dream’s side and though he didn’t fight as adamantly as Puffy or Sapnap had, he still vocally supported their effort. He was Dream’s friend too.</p><p>“No one’s seen Puffy but everyone else was invited.” Bad continues.</p><p>“Even Tubbo and Fundy?” Sapnap scowls. Bad makes like he’s going to say something but then thinks better of it.</p><p>“I don’t think they’re going to show up,” He admits, “but yes, they were invited too.”</p><p>“When is it?” George emerges from the chest room, looking just as well-rested as Sapnap does. Which is not at all.</p><p>“2 this afternoon.” Bad answers. He hesitates, “Will you bring some of his things? We don’t…”</p><p>He looks like he’s about to start crying but when he chokes up he pushes through it, “We don’t have a body to bury.”</p><p>“Yeah.” Sapnap croaks, “Yeah, we’ll bring stuff to…to bury.”</p><p>He goes to leave, but not before he apologizes for not being able to come over and emotionally support them. “Bad you have to take care of yourself too, man.” They reassure him.</p><p>They worry that with Skeppy missing, Bad is struggling harder than he’s letting on.</p><p>The door shuts and it takes them longer than they’d ever admit to find stuff to put in the casket. There’s a spare green hoodie, an axe Dream had used during one of their manhunts, and a couple photos that they put in frames to prop up for the funeral.</p><p>Sapnap is digging through another chest with old manhunt stuff when his hands close around one of the old compasses. He glances down at it and goes to put it to the side when he sees something out of the corner of his eye.</p><p>His heart pounds as he stiffly, <em>carefully</em>, moves the compass around.</p><p>The needle moves.</p><p>It’s locked onto something.</p><p>“George!” He yells and rockets out of the room.</p><p>…</p><p>Dream stumbles through the birch wood village in a haze.</p><p>
  <em>‘We should sleep.’</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘I don’t want to.’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We can’t keep running from what we did.’</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>“Put your things in the hole.” </strong>
</p><p>Dream flinches at the memory.</p><p>
  <em>‘…Why did you do that?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Be more specific.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Why did you make him get rid of his things?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘So he couldn’t rebel. Tommy gets cocky when he thinks he has the upper hand.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘But all of his things? You couldn’t let him have iron armor?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘I let him keep it sometimes.’</em>
</p><p>That’s true, but it doesn’t erase the sight of Tommy’s dull eyes from his memories. The passion and excitement that used to be there was slowly strangled out of him. His loud voice was silenced to a nervous mutter and the strings around his wrists and neck were all attached to Dream’s fingers.</p><p>
  <em>‘Why didn’t you let him go home?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘That was his punishment. We’ve exiled him before.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Yeah, but that was before he had a home and friends in the SMP. You isolated him.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘I let people visit. It’s not my fault Tubbo never showed up.’</em>
</p><p>Anger bubbles up from one side. Lies, more lies.</p><p>
  <em>‘You hid the invitations to his party! You made him think they hated him!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘That was for one day! People came and visited him all the time!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Who?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Quackity, Techno, Lazar – almost everyone! It’s his own fault for thinking they were there out of pity.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘He’s still a child, you shouldn’t have done that to him.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘He deserved it.’</em>
</p><p>Dream wants to vomit.</p><p>
  <em>‘How can you say that?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘How can I say that?! He’s been treated like an adult since Wilbur fucking showed up and made him fight in a war!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘That doesn’t mean we should treat him like one too!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘He wanted to be treated like one!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘But he’s not! And you shouldn’t even pull that shit on an adult!’</em>
</p><p>Dream gasps as his form cracks and tears. His consciousness shrinks, the two halves of himself brutally yanked apart. Overwhelming panic takes over his entire being. For a moment he sees the Dreamon and the Dreangel through each other’s eyes, mirror images of rigid terror.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘NO!’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Their pieces slam back together and Dream topples over from the force of it. There’s silence from the voices while he scrambles to catch his breath. His hands thread through dirty blonde locks, gripping his head tightly, and desperately trying to physically hold himself together. His elbows and knees grow damp from his curled position on the ground, the grass stains quickly seeping into his clothing. He tries to focus on holding himself together.</p><p>He doesn’t want to separate <em>not again, not again, not again!</em>  </p><p>Something soft tickles his ankle. Instinctively he throws himself away from it, skidding across the wet grass in a panic. One hand reaches for the diamond sword on his back. His attacker, an equally spooked brown tabby cat, leaps multiple feet in the air and darts behind a tree.</p><p>All the tension washes out of his body when it pokes it curiously pokes its head back out. He guiltily lowers his arms in a non-threatening manner, sad to have startled the creature, “Sorry...”</p><p>The cat’s fur smooths back down after a long staring contest. It mewls at him, padding over to rub against his side with a purr. Slowly, so as not to startle it again, Dream reaches out to pet it. He scratches its neck lightly and it leans into his hand with more purring. It calms him a bit and he briefly entertains the notion of taming it so he could have a companion.</p><p>‘You know it’ll just end up like Spirit.’</p><p>His hand stops.</p><p>-Sapnap returning with the pelt of his dead horse, treasuring it as the last remaining part of his friend, having it stolen from him, having it used as little more than a bargaining chip against him for so long until-</p><p>
  <strong>“You have nothing of mine…but Dream, a long time ago I got something of yours.”</strong>
</p><p>-jeering cries, taunts and insults, <em>humiliation-</em></p><p>The moment that the Dreamon had lost Its leverage and Tommy had the high ground, Spirit’s leather was in danger. The little <em>rat</em> would have burned it, he would have burned all that he had left of Spirit. He was under Tommy’s thumb and he loathed it. He called him his bitch, but Dream was a fucking <em>god</em> and this was <em>his</em> server. He was older than everyone combined, he wasn’t anyone’s to control. No pompous British <em>child</em> would have power over him. He snapped. He wanted Tommy to burn, wanted him to suffer, wanted him to <em>break</em>-</p><p>A whine of distress leaves his lips. The cat meows at him and nudges against his curled hand in the hopes of more scratches.</p><p>
  <em>‘You took it too far.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘He started it.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Does that matter? You took it way too far.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘He’s always fucking starting it. Why the hell did we ever let him stay?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘You took it too far.’ </em>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘I always take it too far.’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Bullshit! Maybe I retaliated too harshly but don’t act like we’re entirely to blame!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘He’s just a child.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘A child that continuously robs from others, who starts fights like it’s his one goal in life, and who killed George the second we let him in!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘That’s just how he is!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘That’s not an excuse!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Yes it is! We’re the adult, we had to be the bigger person! It was on us to stop escalating things!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘And what the hell did you want from me? Control? Newsflash asshole, between the two of us you were the breaks on this joy ride and they cut you.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We…’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘They wanted a villain.’ </em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘I know but still.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Look, he ruined everything. I had the chance to get him to stop and to pay for it. It went to my head. I went too far. I’m sorry.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We’re not the ones that need an apology.’</em>
</p><p>Dream’s attention is brought back into the real world when a fuzzy face butts its head against his. The smell of fresh cod fills his nostrils – when had the cat gotten into his bag?</p><p>The feline looks far too pleased with Dream’s fish in her mouth and now that she knew he was a source of food there was no way he would be able to get her to leave.</p><p>
  <em>‘It’s a start though, isn’t it?’</em>
</p><p>The cat (Patches, he learns later) climbs up onto his shoulders and makes herself comfortable in his hood. He scratches her beneath the chin, rising to his feet to continue his journey away from the SMP. He sways a little when his vision goes black for a moment.</p><p>At least he’s not alone anymore.</p><p>There’s a nagging fear that someone will come and try to take her, threaten her to get to him, kill her to make him suffer, or use her remains as leverage against him. He shoves those worries aside, in the grand scheme of things it’s just another drop in his ocean of tumultuous thoughts.</p><p>
  <strong>‘Yeah, I guess it is.’</strong>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>If one side of you is selfish and the other side is selfless...which one has the self-preservation?</p><p>AKA: Who is driving this car?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I was going to post this earlier today but I got sidetracked by the Tales of the SMP episode hahahaha sorry, I hope you like it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Patches does not allow Dream to keep smelling like a dead carcass.</p><p>Every opportunity she gets while hitching a ride in his hood is spent trying to groom his hair. For the most part she walks alongside him, sometimes disappearing into the trees only to reappear later after chasing distressed mobs around. Phantoms had started to show up after he met her and Patches loved to scare them off.</p><p>It’s nice that he doesn’t have to go through the effort to fight them off, but he could do without her slobbering in his hair. Dream takes pity on the both of them by stopping at the next river and scrubbing his hair thoroughly. Patches waits on the bank, eyeing the water in contempt.</p><p>Something red darts past him and Dream figures he may as well catch a few fish while he’s at it so they can both eat dinner.</p><p>He doesn’t bother cooking his part of the food since he’s started taking the form of a cat during the night. It’s beneficial for both of them, his wolf and horse forms spook Patches and she might have tried to eat his parrot and blob form. As a cat she’s free to groom him and he won’t scare her.</p><p>He lays down as a sandy-colored tabby with a yawn once the sun sets. Some creepers that wander too close find themselves being used as an outlet for the last of Patches’ energy and once she’s done bullying the mobs, Patches wanders back over and curls up next to him.</p><p>With her presence next to him, Dream finally starts to get some snatches of sleep.</p><p>He doesn’t move much once he’s down for the night and he doesn’t try to communicate with her. Not like he had with Spirit. Fear keeps holding him back, preventing him from trying to build his relationship with her. For now, she’s his companion and he didn’t have to communicate through her species for them to become friends.</p><p>It turns out he doesn’t have to get over his fear, because she does it for him.</p><p>“You should take better care of yourself.” She says one night, “You shouldn’t be letting your fur go like this.”</p><p>He sighs heavily through his nose, “We – I don’t really have the time.”</p><p>“There is always time to take care of oneself.” She purrs and Dream doesn’t respond to that. Patches’ tail twitches with good humor, “Especially if you smell like a dead frog.”</p><p>“You’re so mean to me.” He huffs fondly.</p><p>It’s been so long since he’s had a conversation like this. The Dreamon’s interactions had all been manipulative or defensive, every conversation he went into was a transaction or a threat, and the Dreangel only had the soft-spoken Ghostbur for company. Patches isn’t a threat or someone he feels he has to coddle. Their words are friendly and light.</p><p>Her company is a comfort all day whether she’s in his hood or trotting beside him keeping creepers and phantoms away with a hiss. Even at night, when she speaks kindly and keeps haunting memories at bay, she offers him a sense of safety he hasn’t felt in a long time. She doesn’t expect anything from him and he doesn’t expect anything from her.</p><p>She doesn’t need his fish (she can hunt well enough on her own) just as he doesn’t need her to fight off the creepers and phantoms. They still do it anyway. He’s had her for 4 days and he already knows that he’d rather die than have her end up like Spirit.</p><p>She’s become an attachment.</p><p>The thought terrifies him.</p><p>…</p><p>The world is dark when Sapnap wakes up. He’s sitting up, leaning against something hard and cold. His neck aches when he lifts it out of the awkward angle to look around in confusion. There’s not a speck of light to be found and for a brief moment, he wonders if he fell asleep in a cave.</p><p>“What the hell?” He mumbles as he shakes himself awake. He’s certain he was in his bed last night.</p><p>He presses his hands against the walls, feeling the layout of the area and searching for a way out. The walls are smooth but uneven, and he quickly discovers four walls on every side. This isn’t a cave, it’s a small room just barely big enough for him. He tests the walls, attempting to try to dig out.</p><p>The material is hard, and he can already tell progress will be slow. He still can’t see but there’s only one block that is this durable.</p><p>He’s been crammed into an obsidian room, and there’s no way out.</p><p>“Hey!” He calls for someone – anyone – for an explanation.</p><p>He struggles to find a reason why he’s here. He and George were going to go out and find Dream after locating the compass, but they had been careful who they told. Even though they were just going to investigate, they doubted others would approve of finding Dream. The only people they had told were the ones who had backed Sapnap and Puffy up at the meeting. Neither Ant, Bad, nor Sam would have put him here…right?</p><p>Did someone else find out?</p><p>This was a shit way of stopping them.</p><p>“George!” He yells, searching for his companion with the abrupt realization that he’s alone in his prison.</p><p>“Sapnap?” A familiar voice responds.</p><p>“Bad!” He cheers, “Dude, get me out of here!”</p><p> “I can’t do that.” Bad says without any remorse.</p><p>“What?” Sapnap asks, shocked Bad would leave him here. That wasn’t the Bad he knew, there had to be a reason, “Why not? Did they get you too?”</p><p>“Not quite.” Bad answers, “I just need you to spend some time down here.”</p><p>Confusion and betrayal pierce his heart, “Is this because of Dream?”</p><p>“Mmmm, partially.” Bad hums, “The egg isn’t ready for Dream to come back yet. It would have been nice to have the Dreamon spend some time down here, but we couldn’t risk you coming back with the full Dream.”</p><p>“What the hell are you talking about?” Sapnap argues. This is it, Bad has lost his mind and Sapnap would bet three netherite blocks it had something to do with Skeppy being gone.</p><p>“Don’t worry about it.” Bad soothes, “You and George will be just fine.”</p><p>“Bad, this isn’t funny! Let me out!” Sapnap yells, “Hey!”</p><p>But no one responds.</p><p>…</p><p>Dream wakes up the next night with a sense of wrongness.</p><p>His paranoia had eased the further he got from the SMP and the longer Patches was with him the more his mind settled, but now it returns full force.</p><p>
  <em>‘Something is wrong.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘No shit, Idiot.’</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘There’s nothing here.’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>‘No mobs and no hunters.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Why the nasty feeling then?’</em>
</p><p>Patches gives him a confused look, startled that he had leapt to his feet in the middle of the night for seemingly no reason, “What’s wrong?”</p><p>He looks at her with wide eyes, “We – I don’t know.”</p><p>
  <em>‘Is it us?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘It can’t be, this is the best we’ve been since this whole thing started.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘What about the code?’</em>
</p><p>Dream pulls up his interface. Messages from communicators scroll down rapidly, rushing to get to the most recent one. He hasn’t looked in so long that even with how fast it recounts previous messages it still takes a long moment.</p><p>-<em>Sapnap</em>: Someone get me out of here!</p><p>-<em>Sapnap</em>: Guys?</p><p>-<em>Sapnap</em>: If anyone is seeing these, let me out, Bad has lost his mind!</p><p>-<em>Sapnap</em>: Hey!!!! Someone help me!!!</p><p>-<em>Sapnap</em>: It’s started talking to me??!!</p><p>-<em>Sapnap</em>: I don’t like this</p><p>-<em>Sapnap</em>: Let me out, please!</p><p>
  <em>‘What the hell?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We have to help him!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We’re not going back there! Are you nuts?!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘But Sapnap needs help!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Someone probably already helped him.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Then check!’</em>
</p><p>Dream looks down, down, down into his soul, locating the thick green tethers anchored there. He quickly locates Sapnap’s line, no longer a vibrant green like the others, and watches in shock and dread as crimson strings dislodge the tether and carry it up, up, up.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘Shit, grab it!’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Dream reaches out to stop it, but he’s too far away. The tether is lifted just out of his grasp. He jumps, shifting to his human form for a longer reach, and tries to grab it. His fingers brush against the edge of the stiff material and it slips from his reach. Horrified, – <em>useless</em>, <em>he’s useless, he’s a ghost, intangible, insignificant, he didn’t want to be like this again!</em> – he watches as his friend’s tether is taken away by the red strings.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘Where is it going?!’ </em>
  </strong>
</p><p>He strains to get a look. Through the darkness, high above them, a line of red is barely discernable. It ripples and twists like a dark bloody river. It flows out from a pulsing orb – <em>the</em> <em>egg from the Dreamon’s memories, he should have gotten rid of it while he had the chance</em>.</p><p>The egg pumps out a rancid aura, clouding the darkness with disgusting energy. Just looking at it makes him shudder. Then, the bloody water parts to make room for Sapnap’s tether.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘That’s not a river.’ </em>
  </strong>
</p><p>It’s a row of corrupted tethers.</p><p>Dream pales and turns his attention back to the green lifelines that are left.</p><p>
  <em>‘Where’s George?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Where’s Bad?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Punz?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Sam?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Ant?’</em>
</p><p>Gone.</p><p>They’re gone.</p><p>He shakes his head in denial and stumbles backwards away from the darkness and the tethers.</p><p>
  <em>‘When did this happen?’</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘How could I let this happen?’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>‘This is our fault.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We have to go back.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘No!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We can’t do anything from here!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We are not going back!’</em>
</p><p>Dream stares up at the sky. The phantom image of the river, like an ugly and twisted version of the milky way, mars the twinkling stars and soft moonlight above him. He’s trapped in a tornado of thoughts and emotions while the voices argue.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘I have to do something.’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>‘They don’t want us interfering with them!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We can’t just leave them!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We can and we will! They don’t want us meddling, they’ve made that clear enough!’</em>
</p><p>Memories, more memories. They called him a meddler. They called him a tyrant. “Why can’t you let us solve our own problems?” Quackity’s voice echoes.</p><p>“Because you’d tear each other apart and drag everyone else down with you.” Dream hadn’t responded. He couldn’t, Dream hadn’t been around back then. How could Dream stand aside and watch them self-destruct? He had just wanted a place for his friends and family to have fun, not…not fight and hurt each other. He’d always stepped in to mediate, ever since the original eight.</p><p>When did they decide they wanted to work things out on their own, without his help? Had they always felt that way? What happened?</p><p>
  <em>‘You know exactly what happened.’</em>
</p><p>Did he?</p><p>Was it something the Dreamon had done?</p><p>Or was it before that?</p><p>The Dreamon had been a catalyst for chaos and the Dreangel had been useless, but was it really those two that the others didn’t want? Or was it Dream himself?</p><p>Logically, he knows he can’t separate himself fully from the Dreamon and Dreangel. Yet, the idea that <strike>his friends</strike> the SMP<em> - not his friends, not anymore </em>- didn’t want Dream (the <em>real</em> Dream, the <em>whole</em> Dream) as opposed to his imperfect pieces, hurt far more than anything else. It made sense they didn’t want him broken, but if they didn’t even want him whole…</p><p>He should let them deal with this on their own.</p><p>
  <em>‘This isn’t the same!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Of course it is.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘They are being corrupted!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘When aren’t they corrupting each other? Just because an egg is doing it doesn’t mean they can’t handle it themselves.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Normally, I’d agree with you but…but it’s not the same, you have to know that. Look at the tethers!’</em>
</p><p>He’s standing at a crossroads, each half of himself pulling in opposite directions with Dream planted firmly in the middle. He’s so tired of this constant feeling that he’s barely holding himself together. It’s only fear that keeps him whole and it’s almost constantly strained by the differing opinions of his pieces, especially since he almost fell apart in the village where he found Patches.</p><p>
  <em>‘We can use the favor Techno still owes me.’ </em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘He won’t just accept us calling that in after everything that happened. We need to go back ourselves.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We’re not going back until we have more information at the least. Techno can do that.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Then we should start moving back anyway, we’re so far away I don’t know if we can teleport that far if we need to.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘No! We are not going back!’</em>
</p><p>His pieces start to pull apart again. Dream fights against the shrinking space, attempting to keep what little room he has big enough to avoid being completely crushed by the walls of his own consciousness.    </p><p>He doesn’t want to go back. He’s terrified they’ll turn their rage on him again or split him up or put him in the prison or kill him or take Patches or take control of him and put him under their thumb – <em>they’ll hurt him, they’ll use him, they’ll hurt her</em>-!</p><p>He has to go back. He has to help his friends. Even though they hurt him, he had also hurt them. Two pieces or not, it was his pieces that cut them. He couldn’t just abandon them to the egg. It sucked being on his own as a Dreangel, helplessly watching his own body do terrible things. He wouldn’t wish that on anyone.</p><p>
  <em>‘Dreamon, we can’t keep living like this.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Fuck you, I’m trying to keep us safe.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘That’s not like us.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Not like you maybe.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We’re not a coward. Stop acting like we are.’</em>
</p><p>Dream grits his teeth. He’s tired of being scared all the time.  </p><p>The SMP may want to deal with this on their own but the corruption of the tethers have made it his business too. He’s not going to mediate a squabble between friends, he’s going to throw out a rotten egg. Fears of rejection be damned, he’s got a job to do.</p><p>He adjusts his mask and stands, rising to his feet with a new resolve. Patches rises with him, hopping into his hood for the journey with an excited flick of her ear.</p><p>He’s not the helpless Dreangel and he’s not the fearful Dreamon.</p><p>He’s Dream.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘Since when did I start letting fear get in my way?’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>…</p><p><em>Dream</em>: I’m calling in that favor</p><p><em>Technoblade</em>: Bruh</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Dream, barely holding himself together with Stubbornness Tape and Elmer's Glue Fear Edition: This is fine. I can go fight an egg and confront my friends.</p><p>Was very hesitant about having Dream actually talk with Patches, but I already made him a shifter and the idea of him getting close to Spirit because he could communicate as a horse was too enticing. Let me know what you think!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Technoblade continues to be a legend. </p><p>George continues to sleep.</p><p>Dream continues to suffer.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>Technoblade</em>: Which one of you is this?</p><p>Fingers hover over the text. Does he tell the truth or does he lie?</p><p>
  <em>‘I’m the one with the favor, he may not feel like he owes anyone else.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘He also teamed up with the others against you, so it’s entirely possible he feels like the only person he owes is the real Dream.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘He should just be grateful I didn’t make him fight the whole server. I still can’t believe he teamed up with the people who literally hunted him down or betrayed him just to fight little old me.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Wasn’t that the point?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Partly, but it still hurt.’</em>
</p><p>There was an art to establishing control.</p><p>Over the year that the Dreamon had been pulling strings, everyone - even the Dreamon – eventually declared or believed that he only wanted chaos, but that wasn’t entirely the truth. He was never chaos incarnate.</p><p>No, that title always belonged to the mortals. Mortals who start fights for fun, murder because they can, and believe themselves to be the center of the universe.</p><p>How do you control such chaos?</p><p>The same way you control everything else: by manipulating the variables and providing a constant. It may have seemed chaotic to the others, but there was logic behind every single one of the Dreamon’s moves. He manipulated the circumstances and the people, gave them a constant in the form of the villain they always believed him to be which was helpfully fueled by his anger and hatred, and predictably the equation worked out to the same result: him bringing everyone back together as family and friends.</p><p>The Dreamon didn’t realize there was no room for him until it was too late. He’d foolishly thought his friends would put Dream back together without him needing to spell it out. He thought they’d get to be a part of the happy ending. At some point, he’d crossed a threshold. He’d been too good at his role or maybe he’d overestimated his relationships. There was no going back to how they used to be.</p><p>He suspects none of them will enjoy Dream’s return. Technoblade had been a neutral party, but if he was willing to team up with the people who hurt him just to get to the Dreamon then he doubts the hybrid will be any more willing to work with him than the others.</p><p>
  <em>‘All the more reason not to tell him about you.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Rude.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Just…tell him the truth.’</em>
</p><p>Dream turns his attention back to the message.</p><p><em>Dream</em>: Both.</p><p><em>Technoblade</em>: That is so incredibly unhelpful and confusing.</p><p>
  <em>‘…He has a point.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Why is he like this?’</em>
</p><p><em>Dream</em>: Are you going to help me or not?</p><p><em>Technoblade</em>: I never go back on my word.</p><p>Relief seeps through all three of them.</p><p><em>Dream</em>: I need you to help Sapnap and tell me what’s happening.</p><p><em>Techno</em>: Alright, but after this we’re even</p><p>…</p><p><em>Technoblade</em>: Hang on, does this mean you’re still homeless?</p><p><em>Technoblade</em>: This is so sad.</p><p>
  <em>‘WE’RE NOT HOMELESS’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We kind of are, but I don’t really want to admit that to him.’</em>
</p><p><em>Dream</em>: I HAVE A HOUSE TECHNO</p><p>Technoblade: Sure Dream</p><p>…</p><p>The trek back to the SMP is surprisingly fast. He passes back through the village where Patches spent most of her life and is nearly back to the desert by the first sundown. Evidently, traveling while he was mentally unstable and disoriented did not amount to much in terms of distance. He supposes that’s a blessing in disguise.</p><p>Or not, depending on which half of himself you asked.</p><p>He travels at a brisk pace when the sun is up and only stops to rest at night much to Patches’ displeasure. She’s not thrilled with their faster pace; he’s too quick for her to keep up with on foot so she’s been confined to his hood. The cat much preferred the leisurely way they had wandered around before, but despite her disgruntlement, she’s adamant about staying with him.</p><p>There’s not much to do while they travel. With his mind focused on a goal, he doesn’t have to wade through the slew of memories that wander by. Instead, he focuses on the journey and how he’s going to deal with the egg.</p><p>It’s Dreamon in origin, but Dream’s Dreamon didn’t have anything to do with it and he doesn’t know a lot about evil eggs. They’ll have to rely on the Dreamon Hunters more than they want to, something that upsets the Dreamon and makes the Dreangel uncomfortable, but with their limited knowledge they don’t have a choice in the matter.</p><p>There’s also the issue of how the others will react to his presence.</p><p>
  <em>‘We get in, we get out. No sticking around.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We have to at least apologize for what we did before we leave again.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘They’ll have pitchforks and torches the second they see us, what makes you think we’ll get a word out?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We have to try.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘I’m more worried about being stabbed in the back while we fight the egg.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘It might help if we apologize.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘And when do we get our apology? Before or after they stab us?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘After we apologize first.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘And when they stab us anyway? What then?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘You know ‘what then’.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘…’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Look, we’ll apologize, we’ll fight the egg, and then we’ll leave.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘…’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We can deal with the rest as it comes.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘…’</em>
</p><p>He ignores the little spark buried deep in his soul. One of his halves looks longingly at its light. The other pretends not to notice it. </p><p>Dream is keenly aware of its presence, he just knows better than to feed it. </p><p>…</p><p><em>Techno</em>: DREAM IT’S EVERYWHERE</p><p><em>Techno</em>: YOUR PROPERTY VALUE</p><p><em>Dream</em>: How bad is it</p><p><em>Techno</em>: You’re never going to be able to sell it</p><p>
  <em>‘How long were we gone?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘A week? I wasn’t keeping track.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘How did it get so bad so quickly?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘This is our fault.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘I should have dealt with that thing the second I saw it.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Too late now.’</em>
</p><p>Dream recalls the river of red and imagines red vines flowing across the SMP, wrapping around buildings like a possessive lover, claiming the land as its own.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘How did I not feel it?’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We <strong>did</strong> feel it.’</em>
</p><p>That’s the problem. The egg had been so quiet and subtle compared to the loud actions of the Dreamon that the Dreangel had associated the ill-feeling from the egg as something the Dreamon had done. The Dreamon had been too preoccupied with his own goals and objectives to bother with the egg.</p><p>Even now that they were back together, Dream hadn’t noticed it. In the confusion and chaos of being put back together, the egg’s growing presence had been buried beneath everything else.</p><p>With a lot of feeling, Dream whispers, “Shit.”   </p><p>…</p><p><em>Techno</em>: Fundy and Tubbo say it’s a Dreamon thing.</p><p><em>Techno</em>: There’s a whole cult for this thing</p><p><em>Techno</em>: Their eyes are red, like mine</p><p><em>Techno</em>: Booooo, clout chasers!</p><p>…</p><p><em>Techno</em>: THEY COULDN’T FULLY CONVERT GEORGE BECAUSE HE’S STILL SLEEPING</p><p><em>Techno</em>: HAHAHAHA CRINGE</p><p>…</p><p><em>Techno</em>: They’re putting together a plan</p><p><em>Techno</em>: We’re going to lure the cult away while Tubbo and Tommy sneak in and exorcise it.</p><p><em>Dream</em>: When</p><p><em>Techno</em>: 3 pm tomorrow</p><p><em>Techno</em>: Are you going to help?</p><p><em>Dream</em>: Yes.</p><p><em>Techno</em>: They won’t like you just showing up</p><p><em>Dream</em>: I’m aware.</p><p><em>Techno</em>: My obligation to you ends with Sapnap.</p><p><em>Dream</em>: I know.</p><p><em>Dream</em>: I’ll see you tomorrow.</p><p><em>Techno</em>: Good luck</p><p>…</p><p>He’s only just made it to the remains of the community house and the fight has already started. He drops Patches off and tells her to stay put until he comes for her. Then he spins on his heel to run towards the location of the egg.</p><p>Techno was right, it’s taken over the SMP. There are red vines everywhere. They reach out, grabbing at whatever they can consume, clinging to the buildings, and cutting through the paths. He leaps over multiple thick vines that block his way.</p><p>In the distance, he hears barking and explosions.</p><p>-<em>Techno</em>: WHO GAVE EVIL SKEPPY RED STONE</p><p>-<em>Techno</em>: DREAM YOUR PROPERTY VALUE</p><p>Ah, the explosions would be Skeppy then.</p><p>His feet pound on the wooden planks and he passes Fundy fending off a red-eyed Punz. He has to get to the tethers. If Tubbo and Tommy are going to destroy the egg, they have to get rid of its hold on the others. Fundy can handle Punz, where are the others?</p><p>He spots Puffy fending off Ant and rushes over.</p><p>“Sapnap followed Tommy!” She hollers, “Someone back him up!”</p><p>His feet skid across the grass as he violently changes direction. Puffy can handle Ant, a feral Sapnap is not something Tommy will easily keep off of Tubbo for long. Dream throws himself down into the XP farm and splashes out of the water in his haste to keep moving. By the time Puffy has managed to shout his name in disbelief, he’s long gone.</p><p>An explosion echoes down the hallway to the egg room. The smell of smoke and ash hits his senses and Dream knows Sapnap went straight for his favorite explosive. He fights to stay on his feet in his sprint down the stairs and stumbles into the vine-covered room.</p><p>Time stops for a moment as he takes in the situation.</p><p>Tommy stands by a red statue of Skeppy on the other side of the room. In front of him, Sapnap is grinning wildly, red eyes gleaming with cruel delight, a stark contrast to Tommy’s which are alight with horror and fear.</p><p>Neither expression is directed at the other.</p><p>Hunched over his book and focusing on exorcising the egg in front of him, Tubbo is completely oblivious to the bright orange fire-charge headed straight for his head until it’s nearly within arm’s reach.</p><p>Tommy is too far away, Tubbo is <em>too close-!</em></p><p>Tommy wails, “No!”</p><p>And the world explodes in Dream’s face.</p><p>…</p><p>Sapnap whoops in victory when the charge goes off, engulfing Tubbo in smoke and flames. Tommy’s world narrows to the spot where he last saw his best friend.</p><p>That was his last life.</p><p>That was his last life and Tommy didn’t protect him.</p><p>While Sapnap grins, Tommy stares into the black cloud with despair.</p><p>Before his grief can turn into blinding rage, a familiar voice that sends a shiver down his spine breaks through the smoke, “That was stupid. We had to do <em>something</em>. Yeah, like using a <em>shield,</em> not our fucking <em>face</em>!”</p><p>The smoke dissipates enough to make out two silhouettes at the center of the explosion, one hunched protectively over the other. A broken mask smiles back at him.</p><p>“Dream?!” He shrieks.</p><p>The man himself hovers defensively over Tubbo, arms purposefully positioned to shield Tubbo’s face from the explosion. The image they make is strange enough that Tommy blinks twice to make sure he’s not seeing shit.</p><p>The man tanked the fire-charge and it showed. Chunks of iron lay around him, the armor straps connected to them severed by shrapnel and worn with use. His black undershirt is singed, and his cloak is in tatters. The smell of burning polyester mingles with the smokey air. Tommy would be lying if he said the lack of axe or sword on Dream’s hip wasn’t a comfort.</p><p>Dream had wanted Tubbo dead, why was he protecting him? Was this a trap? How did he get here?</p><p>What makes the whole situation even more bizarre is Dream’s armor. He always wore pristine fully enchanted netherite armor until he had been defeated, but one fire charge had knocked the iron right off.   </p><p>Which Dream is in front of him?</p><p>He’s almost positive it’s not the Dreamon. Not with how disheveled the man looks.</p><p>But he’d fallen for Dream’s tricks before. He’s not willing to take that chance.  </p><p>Tubbo gapes up at Dream from behind the Dreamon hunting book. The man slowly rises out of his protective stance when Sapnap makes no move to throw another fire-charge.</p><p>“Dream!” Sapnap yells excitedly, lighting up with happiness, “I knew it! You’re back!”</p><p>“What the hell?!” Tommy yells angrily, “You almost killed Tubbo!”</p><p>He raises his sword defensively, moving so both Dream and Sapnap are in front of him. He’s horribly aware that Tubbo is in a very precarious position. One good lunge and Dream could have him on the floor.</p><p>“We found your compass.” Sapnap explains to the room, completely disregarding Tommy in favor of Dream, “We were going to come find you, but the egg wasn’t ready.”</p><p>Tommy’s eyes dart between the stoic Dream, the faint sound of muttering coming from beneath the mask, and the eager Sapnap, thrilled his old friend is back. Tommy seizes the distraction to slowly shuffle over to Tubbo, keeping them both in his sight as he does so.</p><p>“The egg can put you back together.”</p><p>Tommy stops when Dream flinches. He eyes him warily with a white-knuckled grip on his sword. Shards of porcelain fall from Dream’s mask. His head angles in Tommy’s direction and the remaining beady black eye catches him in its sights.</p><p>It should scare him. It should take him back in time, make him shake and reach for his items so he can <strong><em>‘throw them in the pit, Tommy.’</em></strong></p><p>Even when they were all fighting together, Tommy had trembled when those dotted eyes turned towards him.</p><p>But something is so fundamentally different about the person he used to fear that after the initial shock of having Dream’s attention on him again, he doesn’t feel it. It could be the lack of armor and weapons, the broken mask, the shockingly forest green eye that stares not at Tommy but at the floor, or even the range of emotions playing across the man’s face that screams humanity.</p><p>It all amounted to a level of vulnerability that Tommy had never seen on anyone before, let alone Dream. </p><p>“We can go back to how things used to be! We can fix you and it’ll be us against the world!”</p><p>The room descends into silence so tense you could cut it with a shovel.</p><p>“You have no idea how badly I want that.” A soft voice slices through with all the grace of a diamond sword. Another contradiction to the emotionless and cold Dream that hurt him.</p><p>Dream lifts his head to look at Sapnap, his eye gazing sightlessly at the wall behind him. Tommy braces himself to sprint to Tubbo who bristles at the words. Sapnap looks delighted.</p><p>“But believe me when I say, this world doesn’t need another manipulator.”</p><p>Tommy runs to Tubbo the same time Dream lunges at Sapnap. He plants himself between the fight and Tubbo, urging him, “Keep going Tubbo!”</p><p>His friend goes back to the exorcism and Tommy watches the fight before him with rapt attention, ready to defend Tubbo with his life and his sword.</p><p>Dream had somehow acquired a shield and was dancing around Sapnap, dodging fire-charges and blocking axe-crits, leading him away from the teenagers and the egg. </p><p>“So that’s it?” Sapnap yells, “You’re doing <em>this</em> again?”</p><p>Dream says nothing. Tommy can hardly keep track of him once he climbs into the thicker part of the vines and vanishes. Sapnap follows after him, leaving just their voices and an occasional explosion to track them by.</p><p>…</p><p>“Why don’t you want this?” Sapnap calls with a wavering voice. He sounds upset. “I thought you would want to be our friend again!”</p><p>Dream chokes back the sob as he hauls himself up onto a vine.</p><p>
  <em>‘I can’t do this! Not again!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Endure it! We have to! Just a little longer!’</em>
</p><p>“Are we not good enough for you?!” His old friend demands, throwing a fire charge at the hiding spot Dream used to be at.</p><p>
  <em>‘Make it stop!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘No the fuck he did not just say that!’</em>
</p><p>“You?” Dream can’t stop the angry shout of disbelief that leaves him. There’s red everywhere. He can’t tell what is the egg and what is him.</p><p>Sapnap does not get to accuse Dream of not thinking his friends were good enough for him when <em>he</em> was the one that was ditched – when <em>he</em> was the one that was left behind and forgotten – when <em>he</em> was the one they <strong>gave up on</strong>.</p><p>There’s an explosion of light and fire on his blind side. The fire-charge snuck in through the dark hole in his vision where his mask is broken. His arms come up to protect his face instinctively. Shards cut through his flesh, deepening the wounds that were already there and adding more burns to the collection that’s growing on his upper body from the first charge.</p><p>He falls off of his perch from the force, completely unprepared to stand his ground like before. The shield he summoned splinters from the landing. Shards of wood and iron scatter around him. The vines do nothing to break his fall.</p><p>Sapnap jumps down after him, pulling out his axe. The younger man screams, angry and hurt, “Why do you keep leaving us behind?!”</p><p>
  <em>He’s standing in front of Sapnap and George, confused and upset. Why are they leaving? He took the throne away to keep George safe and the man never wanted to be king anyway so why were they so upset? He was protecting them! How could they say he didn’t care about them? Everything he did was to keep them safe, why couldn’t they understand that? He didn’t mean what he said on the wall, he cared – Ender, he cared so much – but he can’t beg – can’t show people he cares about them or they’ll hurt them and use them – wait – don’t leave – please don’t – don’t – don’t –</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He’s hovering in front of the Dreamon, watching as they stay quiet through Its accusations. It was true, wasn’t it? They never noticed he was acting different or off. They never asked themselves if maybe something was wrong. They just accepted the Dreamon was him – that he was capable of being so cruel – that nothing was amiss – that Dream wasn’t hurting and suffering and screaming and crying for help for so long on deaf ears and blind eyes –</em>
</p><p>Both versions of Dream in two different moments of time open their mouths and scream together, “<strong>YOU LEFT ME FIRST!</strong>”</p><p>He rockets up from the floor, ignoring the pain and throwing his whole body at the man. Sapnap falls back from the weight of his friend, the axe slipping from his hands as Dream lands on top of him. </p><p>Dream snatches the axe off the floor and sits up, looking down at the dazed man beneath him. He lifts the weapon over his head and sees red when he brings it down.</p><p>The gaze of a man who’s accepted defeat meets the angry red eyes of another and the netherite blade cuts into the stone floor by Sapnap’s head.</p><p>“I’m done fighting you Sapnap.” Dream says, accepting that his friend is lost to him. He picks the axe back up and knocks him out with a swift blow to the head.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I did my best to do Techno justice. Tommy might seem a bit ooc, I'm trying my best to show his 'I would like to be a better person' development. Let me know what you think!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Listen, they're all doing their best</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>No beta we die like all the pets Sapnap murdered.</p><p>HOW DID THIS FIC END UP LIKE THIS, IT WAS A ONE-SHOT AND NOW IT'S ONE OF THE LONGEST FICS I'VE WRITTEN, WHAT IS THIS?!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sapnap’s tether is tangled in the red strings. It’s knotted so badly that untangling it would be near impossible without a knife. Hints of green still peek out, which is more than Dream can say for most of the other tethers. Thankfully, Tubbo’s ongoing exorcism has loosened them somewhat and it only takes a few gentle pulls to free it from the egg.</p><p>The tether gently floats down back into place, guided by Dream’s green strings that reach up from his soul to greet the tether like an old friend. There’s no visible change to the unconscious man, but Dream doesn’t see the world the way other people do. The sight of the tether being freed is enough for him to feel relief.</p><p>He carefully rises from his friend so he can stand. Everything from the chest up screams in protest, a fun little side-effect of tanking a second fire-charge, this time without any iron armor to soften the hit. Summoning a health pot, he smashes it against the floor, making sure the potion hits Sapnap as well.</p><p>The pain eases as his wounds stitch themselves closed. The cuts stop weeping blood and as the potion works, only the worst of the cuts leave behind thin white scars only visible to the trained eye. The burns are a different story. It takes strong health pots to fix what isn’t there. Like putting a vase back together, it takes more energy to fill in the holes left by lost pieces than to glue back the pieces that you do have. The basic regen he summoned uses most of its magic on the cuts. The most it can do for the burns is replace the hydration he lost by getting them in addition to keeping the pain manageable.</p><p>
  <em>‘What now?’</em>
</p><p>He looks around. They’re in the thick of the vines, hidden from the entrance and the teens working on the egg. While the red jungle blocks their view of him, he can see them just fine with his remaining vision. Tubbo is focused on the egg again and Tommy is scanning the area for any danger, protecting his friend.</p><p>He doesn’t want to go back to Tommy or Tubbo, but he has to help Tommy hold the others off so Tubbo can work. No doubt the egg felt Sapnap’s tether be pulled free and the other possessed are doing everything they can to get back to it.</p><p>
  <em>‘This is just a game of keep-away, isn’t it? Only issue is our target is stationary.’</em>
</p><p> ‘<strong><em>Good.’</em></strong> He thinks, <strong><em>‘That means they have to come to us.’</em></strong></p><p>There’s only one entrance into the room. He could barricade it, but that might lead to more complications. If the others try to dig in, there would be no way of telling which direction they’d come from. The open entrance provides a funnel that’s easily defendable. Tommy can hold the back-line, he’ll take the middle should any of the possessed break away from the others at the front.  </p><p>He summons a bow with Punch on it, planning on staying hidden in the red jungle and take potshots at whoever comes. He’ll need slowness arrows, maybe even spectral arrows to help everyone else and give Tommy a heads up on who’s coming.</p><p>He looks back at Sapnap. He doesn’t want to leave him here, but he can’t take him with him.</p><p>
  <em>‘We need to get him out, the more he stays here the more the egg will try to possess him again.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘George got away from it by sleeping and Tubbo is keeping it preoccupied, he’ll be fine here.’</em>
</p><p>Deciding to compromise, Dream hauls his friend up, wrapping an arm around his waist and draping Sapnap’s arm over his shoulders. A pained grimace forms on his face and stays there. With the younger man’s arm pressing against the burns on his neck and shoulders, it’s a painful event.</p><p>He carefully maneuvers them around lava pools and molten blocks. The vines make it difficult to bring his unconscious friend to the corner of the room. After climbing over his first vine, ducking under the second and third, and encountering a fourth that’s too high to easily climb but too low to easily go under, they make it.</p><p>The vines cling to the walls, branching up and reaching out over the stone. Small sections of gray peek out between the crimson red vines. Close to the ground, a patch of wall is just big enough for him to deem adequate for hiding his friend.</p><p>Dream digs into the stone and carves out a little hole for Sapnap to safely rest in. Gently, he hauls his friend into the little cavern, carefully setting his head against the cold floor. He should be okay in there for now.</p><p>One hand reaches out to Sapnap’s prone form then stops before Dream can show any affection or care. He withdraws his hands, blocks off the hole, and vanishes into the vines without a sound.</p><p>…</p><p>The room is suspiciously quiet after Dream’s yelling. Though Tommy couldn’t make it out, it had definitely been Dream and Dream was only loud when he was angry. After that there had been no explosions or muffled shouting from Sapnap, the whole room had gone quiet.</p><p>Tommy hated the quiet.</p><p>“Tubbo how much longer?” He asks, keeping a sharp eye on the vine jungle. He couldn’t see anything past the first layer of vines, they had grown too thick and too many to easily see into. The entrance was completely hidden as were Dream and Sapnap. There was no telling who might emerge and attack them.</p><p>“A lot.” Tubbo says. He takes a gamble and glances back. Tubbo is pale and worried, not a good sign. “I didn’t think it would be so resistant, this is taking way longer than I thought it would.”</p><p>“Well can we hurry it up?” Tommy panics. There was no telling how long the others would be able to hold off the possessed without killing them permanently. The exorcism was supposed to be over by now. </p><p>They ran out of time three minutes ago.</p><p>“If we had more holy water or if we could get rid of the vines it might – wait, something just happened!” Tubbo exclaims.</p><p>“What? What happened?” Tommy demands.</p><p>“I don’t know, it was like the egg lost a foothold!” Tubbo smiles. It soon falls into a frown, “It’s going a little bit faster now but it’s still not fast enough.”</p><p>Damn it.</p><p>“Is there anything else we can do?” Tommy’s gaze flickers back and forth between both sides of the crimson jungle. They were all expecting the exorcism to be enough, none of them brought holy water or blue flames and Tommy was not about to leave Tubbo to go get them.</p><p>“I don’t know.” Tubbo admits, “Let me focus, just buy me as much time as you can.”</p><p>Tommy reluctantly goes silent.</p><p>Doubts creep in through the quiet. Are they going to be able to pull this off? What if the others are starting to lose? What if someone dies because the plan is taking longer than it should? Are they going to lose? Will they have to retreat and come back another day?</p><p>Tommy shakes himself, steeling his resolve. No, he’s a man and men don’t retreat. He’s going to defend Tubbo with his life and get rid of this bitch-ass egg. Their plan clearly had a big issue they didn’t foresee and they’re just going to have to work with it.</p><p>Then there was the issue of Dream. Which Dream is it? Who’s side is he on? Is Tommy going to have to fight him?</p><p>He won’t win against Dream, not without help. Dream – No, the Dreamon – made that very clear.</p><p>His legs tremble at the thought of having to fight that monster on his own. He’ll do it for Tubbo, buy him as much time as he can, go down in a blaze of glory…but he doesn’t want to die. He and Tubbo still have so much to talk about. They had apologized to each other about the exile but neither talked about what happened nor what they were apologizing for.</p><p>Tommy just wanted his friend back and was too scared to talk about what happened between them. He wasn’t ready for that conversation. The closest they had gotten was when Tubbo broke down after the meeting over Dream, sobbing that everything the Dreamon did was his fault. Tommy had assured him it wasn’t, that he couldn’t have known, and that the Dreamon was just a bitch. He didn’t think Tubbo apologizing for another’s actions counted as ‘talking it out’ and he didn’t want to leave any loose ends when he died.</p><p>He didn’t want to end up like Ghostbur, confused and oblivious to the suffering happening around him.</p><p>Tommy opens his mouth, about to say something along the lines of forgiveness and apologizing for anything Tubbo blamed him for when the glowing outline of a figure pops into existence through the vines.</p><p>“What the fuck?” He squints at the outline as it stumbles around, fighting someone and being pushed back, “Who has spectral arrows?”</p><p>The figure darts to the side and throws something. The outline of ears appearing as the person’s head turns, “Is that AntFrost?”</p><p>Shit, what happened to Puffy?</p><p>The appearance of another outline answers his question. The pirate hat is unmistakable. Puffy’s outline moves down the last few stairs and joins the fight with Ant on the other side of the red jungle, but she’s only just arrived and Ant’s movements are off. He’s fighting someone else, someone who isn’t Puffy.</p><p>It takes him a millisecond to think, ‘yeah, Dream <em>would</em> have spectral arrows.’</p><p>Tommy watches as Ant is corralled into the corner. The cat-hybrid tries to leap over Puffy using the vines (or did he jump off the wall?) as a platform, but she stops him by grabbing his tail and throwing him back to the corner.</p><p>He watches them for a moment before his attention is seized by another outline. This one appears in front of Puffy’s and the person jumps up and down towards the egg, skillfully maneuvering through the vines. Tommy readies himself for a fight and the silhouette abruptly flies to the side. The figure is thrown so far to the side that it has to have been from a knockback enchantment.</p><p>The new figure turns their head back and forth before being knocked back again, this time growing smaller as the distance between them and Tommy increases. The silhouette stumbles back, tripping over something before growing smaller again as they’re pushed further back.   </p><p>Tommy can hear the sound of clashing Netherite through the vines. Puffy’s figure vanishes and doesn’t reappear, but both Ant and the other person are still preoccupied so Tommy figures (hopes) she’s still around. The two possessed are routinely knocked back and their weapons clash with opponents Tommy can’t see.   </p><p>There’s something sluggish about their movements. They never get far from the entrance and Tommy knows Ant can be quick when he wants to. Did they get hit with a potion? He wouldn’t put it past Dream to have shown up with an absurd amount of potions. Puffy doesn’t appear to be under the same effect. Her graceful movements with her saber are just as fast and elegant as before. She dances with death unhindered.</p><p>Which means Dream didn’t hit her with one.</p><p>Was he actually on their side? He’d protected Tubbo and distracted Sapnap – come to think of it he hadn’t spoken like he was on the egg’s side. If he really was the one that was slowing the possessed down and hitting them with spectral arrows…   </p><p>Shit. Maybe they <em>can</em> pull this off.</p><p>But if this was another trick-</p><p>What if he was lying again?</p><p>What if he was going to turn around and stab Puffy?</p><p>What if he was using this as a way to get them to trust him only for him to stab them in the back later?</p><p>Tommy really didn’t like Dream being here, it complicated everything but if he’s honest with himself Dream has made things easier rather than harder. He hates to think that with how slowly the egg is being exorcised, Dream’s appearance might be the only thing rebalancing the scales of war. Still, he’s not going to trust Dream so easily, even if he is helping them right now.</p><p>Another outline enters the fray. Their head is smooth and lacking any hair. It has to be Ponk and his mask. Fundy is right on his heels, his fluffy tail giving him away, and then Eret follows soon after, his smaller stature telling Tommy that the crowned figure in the room isn’t Techno.</p><p>With so many outlines in the same area, it’s hard to pick out what’s happening. They overlap each other making it nearly impossible to make them out individually. With so many people crammed into the corner of the room, they make an ugly amalgamation of outlines.</p><p>One of them breaks off from the group and their figure grows as they approach the egg. No one chases after them and it’s only Fundy’s hat and bushy tail that save him from Tommy’s wrath.</p><p>“Tubbo, what’s taking so long man?” Fundy yells, bursting through the crimson vines.</p><p>“I’m going as fast as I can!” Tubbo hollers back. Fundy is brought to a halt, looking at the egg with wide eyes, and his ears press back against his head in shock and distress, “Only this much?”</p><p>“It’s stubborn okay?!” Tubbo defends. Tommy looks back at the egg in curiosity. To his horror only about a tenth of the egg has turned to stone. He knew it was going slow but not <em>that</em> slow!</p><p>“Tubbo, it’s going to take half a day at this rate!” Fundy yells, rushing over. “We have to speed this up!”</p><p>“Oi, dickhead, why don’t you do something then?” Tommy scowls at the fox.</p><p>“Show me the book, I’ll chant too.” Fundy offers and Tubbo shuffles the book over so both hunters are holding the cover in one hand. Together they quietly chant the exorcism. Tommy turns his attention back to the forest and startles at the sight of so many outlines. Holy shit, is <em>everyone</em> down here?</p><p>Suddenly, a black and brown blur flies out of the jungle and Tommy has half of a smiley face charging at him. He hides his flinch at the sight. Dream’s signature green cape is gone and by the look of his left side, it would be a miracle if it weren’t burnt to a crisp.</p><p>Dream is covered in burns, his neck and face a horrible reminder of how Tubbo looked after the festival.</p><p>Dream’s left side clearly took the brunt of the hit. Angry red burns span across his neck and face, charred and blistered. Dirty blonde hair is singed at the tips and Dream’s black undershirt, which was already in rough shape, has new holes with edges that are burned into his skin, blending in with the newly blackened skin to the point where Tommy has a hard time distinguishing between charred flesh and shirt.</p><p>He smells of smoke and burnt flesh. Morbidly, Tommy wonders if this is what Tubbo looked like right before he died, and his wounds sealed shut from the respawn.</p><p>“What do you need?” Dream demands, turning his head so what’s left of his mask faces Tommy. The teen doesn’t know if the mask from his traumatic past is any better than the gruesome sight Dream is hiding from him. “This is taking too long. We can’t hold them off all night.”</p><p>Tommy has half a mind to tell him to piss off, but Tubbo cuts him off, “Holy water, blue flame, get rid of the vines – anything that will loosen its hold on our realm!”</p><p>“We can do that.” Dream says, “Let’s free the others. No that will take too long, they’re wrapped too tight. We should weaken its hold more. Okay.”</p><p>Tommy looks at Dream incredulously. What the hell? Is Dream losing his mind now?</p><p>He watches with furrowed brows as the man pulls soul sand out of his inventory and places it under the vines coming out of the egg. He digs holes out from under the vines on the ground to make room for the sand and quickly builds stone ledges and pillars for the higher vines.</p><p>“We should go back and shoot them with spectral arrows again. There’s still time left. We can help here for a little bit.” Dream says as he works. Tommy catches some of the words he mutters when he gets to the vines closest to Tommy.</p><p>Yeah, Dream has officially gone insane.</p><p>The man then proceeds to pull a bucket of water out and tosses it over the egg. The Crimson hisses and spits when the water comes into contact with it. If Dream wasn’t always weirdly overprepared for everything all the damn time, Tommy would think he was just summoning this stuff at his beck and call.</p><p>The water works for a good couple of seconds before it stops hurting the egg. Both Dream and Tommy frown at it.</p><p>“When did it get so resistant to holy water?” He hears Dream voice the same thoughts he’s having. The man looks over at the blue flames, “When did it get so resistant to <em>everything</em>?”</p><p>Tommy follows his gaze. The vines roasting over the flames are turning to stone at the same rate that the egg is. How come it’s not working?</p><p>“Any ideas?” Dream asks, hopping down from the vine he perched on to dump the holy water on the egg. Tommy isn’t sure who he’s talking to. Tubbo and Fundy keep chanting.</p><p>“We can try the vines?”</p><p>“Something happened earlier.” Tommy says, uncertain he should be saying this, but progress is so slow and he’s starting to feel antsy. “Tubbo said the egg lost a foothold.”</p><p>“A foothold?” Dream repeats angling his head towards him, “When?”</p><p>“Like five minutes ago.”</p><p>“You don’t think it was Sapnap do you?” Dream mutters, “It had to have been – you think if we free the others we’ll make more progress? We’d have to knock them out or hold them down. I don’t want to get in the middle of the fight happening over there.”</p><p>“Are you talking to yourself?” Tommy asks in bewilderment, finally having enough of watching Dream’s madness.</p><p>“Yes.” Dream responds, this time directing the words at Tommy before going back to muttering to himself. “Let’s just cut the vines. Don’t forget the spectral arrows. I’ll go back after I cut two.”</p><p>Dream approaches the closest vine, off to the right of the Dreamon hunters and Tommy glances back to check on the red jungle. The number of outlines has gone down. He can easily pick out Techno and Phil in the mix, Phil’s wings and Techno’s stature are hard to miss. They don’t look like they’re panicking so Tommy assumes the situation is under control.</p><p>He’s forgotten how bad he is about assuming victory before it’s happened.</p><p>The sound of a block breaking above him has him whirling around. Something white and black drops down and Tommy raises his sword to block an attack that doesn’t come. He registers Bad’s appearance only after he’s shoved his sword through Dream’s back.</p><p>…</p><p>Sapnap wakes up in darkness. Vague memories of gentle green guiding him away from raging red hovering behind his eyelids. He panics briefly, terrified to be in another obsidian box, but this time when he throws his hands out against the wall he touches smooth stone. He frantically digs his way out and tumbles into a red forest when the final block breaks.  </p><p>The absence of the sweltering heat of the nether is confusing, but the red vines – he remembers those. They were red like the red strings puppeteering him around, that whispered reassurances and lies, that tricked him and corrupted him.</p><p>“I’ll help you find Dream.” It whispered, “You and George can bring him to me. I’ll make you a family again. I’ll put everything back to how it was before.”</p><p>He’d fought at first, refusing to give in to the chilling voice. It scared him, everything about it screamed deceit and bloodlust, but he couldn’t get away. He had to listen to its lies until eventually, it broke him down and he began to believe it.</p><p>Things had been strange after that. He knew, in the back of his mind, that the egg was just manipulating him, but it was like a dream he couldn’t wake up from. He’d been fine with doing the egg’s bidding and had fully believed it would help him and his family come back together. He remembers Bad welcoming him into the fold and the following days that he spent keeping an eye on the sleeping George and helping the Eggpire spread its influence.</p><p>Then the hunters came and he was protecting the egg from Tommy and Tubbo. He was fighting Tommy but Tubbo was the problem with his book and his words so he’d – oh no, he’d thrown a fire charge at the one kid who’d already been blown up in the past and he’d been on his last life to boot. He could have taken Tubbo’s last life. The idea makes him shudder, thank god Dream-</p><p>
  <em>Dream took the full hit, his mask was cracked – he can’t see without his mask, that’s not good – ‘He’s barely keeping himself together. I can help him. I can put him back together. You can go back to how you were’ – Dream refused the egg, refused him – ‘He doesn’t want you, you were never good enough for him not even when he was himself’ – Dream burned and hurt in more ways than one, a pained green eye, a piercing scream “YOU LEFT ME FIRST” – bullshit, he wanted his friend back, he was going to go find him and Dream had refused to let Sapnap – no, the Egg – help him, ‘he always leaves you behind’ – “I’m done fighting you” confusion, darkness and now –</em>
</p><p>Now he’s in thick red vines, half-fallen out of a little cavern. Dream is gone and Sapnap –</p><p>
  <em>‘You have no idea how badly I want that, but believe me when I say, this world doesn’t need another manipulator.’ </em>
</p><p>He has to find Dream, he realizes. Where did he go?</p><p>Sapnap gets to his feet, determined to find his friend. It was never him that Dream rejected, it was the egg, it had to have been. He had looked so sad. Sapnap has to believe it was because of the egg.</p><p>He doesn’t know if his heart can handle it being anything else.</p><p>The sound of metal clashing comes from his right and when he looks over there’s a multitude of people outlined from spectral arrows. He doesn’t see Dream among them. Maybe he’s by the egg again?</p><p>Sapnap takes off towards the damned thing. He’s going to scramble that stupid egg himself if Tommy and Tubbo haven’t already. He parkours over the magma blocks and lava, diving under high vines and leaping over the low ones. He comes out on the far side of the vine jungle, opposite the spectral figures and Tommy doesn’t see him at first.</p><p>The teen is focused on the group by the entrance. Tubbo and Fundy are in front of the egg, sharing the hunter book and chanting behind him. On the right side, furthest from Sapnap is a man in forest green combat boots, dark pants, and a black undershirt that’s burned to hell. Even without his obnoxious green cloak, Sapnap recognizes his best friend’s back.</p><p>The burns from his memory are bad, but Dream is up and moving, about to swing his axe down onto one of those stupid vines. The sight makes him feel relieved. Worry leaves his frame and his shoulders lose their tension. A shaky smile graces his face and he can see his chance to have his brother back. Things won’t be the same as they were in the past, but they will be far better than the broken present.</p><p>Sapnap takes one step towards a future that’s bright and warm.</p><p>Then watches it shatter when Bad drops down from the ceiling.</p><p>He watches as a dark hand wraps around Dream’s wrist before he can bring the axe down on the vine and Bad’s diamond sword runs him through. Dream’s grip weakens around his axe and it clatters to the ground with a sense of finality.</p><p>“Dream!” Sapnap screams, sprinting towards him and startling Tommy and Bad, “Get away from him!”</p><p>Tommy stares dumbfounded as Sapnap tackles Bad away from Dream. They roll on the ground, wrestling for lack of any other weapons than the ones by Dream.</p><p> “Why?!” He demands as they tussle, feelings of betrayal coming back full force.</p><p>“He was going to hurt the egg!” Bad answers, blocking one of Sapnap’s punches and jabbing an elbow into his stomach. Sapnap clings tightly to Bad despite the blow, keeping him restrained as best he can.</p><p>“Let me go! They’re hurting it!” His friend yells.</p><p>“It’s using you Bad! Stop it!” He tries to reason, “This isn’t like you!”</p><p>“Hold him still.” A raspy voice comes and Sapnap holds onto Bad tighter, trusting his friend.</p><p>Dream appears above them, one hand pressed against the wound in his side and looking ready to fall over. Blood trickles out of the corner of Dream’s mouth and he looks like a walking corpse, but he still stands. He raises a gloved hand over them and his eye shuts.</p><p>Bad thrashes in his grip and Sapnap squeezes his eyes shut, focusing entirely on keeping him still, “No! No, the egg!”</p><p>“Come on, Bad.” Dream says hoarsely. “You don’t need the egg, it needs you.”</p><p>The thrashing starts to die down.</p><p>“There’s so much.” Dream mutters, “That’s alright, a little at a time. Look it’s already loose.”</p><p>Bad’s wiggling slows to a halt a couple moments later and he pants from exertion. Sapnap continues to hold him tight, scared of letting go.</p><p>“There we go, see? Welcome back, Bad.” Dream’s voice soothes.</p><p>“I-” Bad starts, “I- oh my god what did I-”</p><p>“There it was again!” Tubbo shouts, “Tommy whatever you’re doing, do it again!”</p><p>Sapnap opens his eyes to see Dream looking sightlessly down at them with a soft look underneath all his burns. His legs buckle and Sapnap shouts in worry as Dream nearly falls to the floor. Blonde hair barges into the space under Dream’s good arm.</p><p>“…Tommy?” Dream mutters.</p><p>Tommy stares up at him from beneath his shoulder, acting as a crutch for Dream to lean on. His mouth is drawn into a frown and his nose is scrunched up in disgust.</p><p>“I think you can let go of him now, Sapnap.” The teen says, avoiding eye contact with all of them.</p><p>Sapnap hesitates before opening his arms and letting Bad go. The demon curls up, staring at his hands and trying to make himself seem smaller, “What did I – How could I – ?”</p><p>“Bad?” Sapnap prods, moving to sit up.</p><p>“Sapnap!” Bad shoots up with a gasp. He wraps his arms around him and pulls him into his chest, “Oh I’m so sorry! I tried to convince it to leave you be but then you told me what you were doing and the egg didn’t like it, I’m so sorry!”</p><p>Sapnap sinks into his hold and whispers reassurances, “It’s okay. I’m fine. It’s okay Bad.”</p><p>Beyond the sound of his friend’s apologies, he hears Dream speak again, stronger this time, “Tommy.”</p><p>Sapnap peeks out over the demon’s shoulder to see Dream looking down at Tommy while the Teen scowls at the floor.</p><p>Softly, with surprise and gratitude evident in his voice, he says, “Thanks.”  </p><p>Tommy’s eyes shoot to Dream’s face with shock.</p><p>“You’re really not the Dreamon are you?” Tommy responds, stating the question more than asking it.</p><p>“Ehh, he is in here, but so is the Dreangel.” Dream raises his hand with a wince and gestures to his head. He notices the look on Tommy’s face and continues, “Neither of us has total control if that’s what you’re worried about. It’s hard to explain but you don’t need to worry about the Dreamon.”</p><p>
  <em>‘He’s barely keeping himself together.’ Sapnap can see it. Three Dreams, a green one in the center, a blue one to the left, and a yellow one to the right, overlapping but still distinct, like looking through those 3-d glasses you get at movies. Then it’s gone, the vision serving the purpose the egg intended by convincing Sapnap his friend still wasn’t whole. </em>
</p><p>Another lie, he thinks now.</p><p>“We put ourselves back together. It’s not…perfect, but it will do.”</p><p>Or was it?</p><p>“ – and Skeppy will – “ He hears Bad gasp suddenly, interrupting Sapnap’s thoughts and Dream’s conversation, “SKEPPY!”</p><p>The demon turns to Dream, his arms still wrapped around Sapnap. Bad tightens his grip a bit, holding him closer, and Sapnap can feel how tense he is.</p><p>“Dream, I know I – ” He chokes and fumbles for a moment to find the words he wants, “I know I’ve screwed up. I know I failed you with the Dreamon, and then Sapnap and everyone with the egg, but please…” Bad looks at Dream helplessly, “Will you save Skeppy?”</p><p>It’s a hell of a sight. A nine-foot-tall demon holding his comparatively tiny friend in his lap like a teddy bear asking a man who looks like he went through hell for help. They all look at Dream’s burned and battered form, knowing he’s their best bet to beating the egg.</p><p>Only Bad is hesitant. Sapnap knows better than to think Dream has any intention of doing what he wasn’t already planning to, and there’s a sparkle in Tommy’s eyes as he looks at Dream that hasn’t been there since the early days of the disc wars.</p><p>Despite everything that’s happened to him over the past few hours – hell, the past year – Dream has never looked more like himself when a smile peeks out from behind what’s left of his mask and he confidently, almost cockily, answers, “I can do that.” </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>TLDR;<br/>Sapnap is boxed like a fish, the possessed group is boxed like a fish, Tommy stares into the forest with a WTF look on his face, the egg said no &lt;3 to being exorcised quickly, and Dream gets lightly stabbed. Sapnap, being squished in the arms of a stressed out Badboyhalo: *squeaky toy noise*</p><p>Let me know what you think! Even if it just says "kudos", I really enjoy the feedback!</p><p>Y'all can have a break from Dream's mental turmoil and the cliffhangers...as a treat.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's the bonds we forge together that will save us in the end. Wait, hang on, Skeppy put those - that is TOO MANY - SKEPPY!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello!! I am alive!! Sorry this is weeks late, but I was having a rough time with school and this chapter was SO hard to write. I finally have something I'm decently proud of. I'm still skeptical, but if I wait for it to be perfect you all might lose interest hahahahaha! Also found out Corpse is iffy with the shipping so I changed his character's name to Catt and left their relationship to be interpreted by you lovely readers :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We’re going to have to get close to him.” Dream explains. He’s standing on his own now, the three health pots that he splashed on the floor had sealed up the damage from Bad’s sword and Tommy had left Dream’s side as quickly as he came.</p><p>Dream rips his left sleeve off with little resistance. He slips the fabric beneath his mask and ties it around his head in an attempt to protect his revealed eye. The movement is smooth without the sharp pain from his burns, though his face is pale and his skin is still an angry red.</p><p>There’s dried blood still left around the edges of the sword wound and his black undershirt, stained a darker color from the blood that had seeped out of the wound, is three good scissor cuts away from falling off his body. The holes on his left shoulder and neck that were left by the fire-charge expose a good chunk of his shoulder and it dwarfs both the tears from the shrapnel and the gash left from Bad’s sword.</p><p>He looks a sight better than before, but the healing is only superficial and they all know it. He won’t be able to tank any more heavy hits.</p><p>“I can free the others from back here, but Skeppy is a different story.” He continues, glancing back at the tethers. Bad, Ant, and Skeppy were by far the worse out of everyone. Their tethers had been corrupted for the most amount of time and only a sliver of green was left on Bad when he had started to detangle him. Ant is a smidge better than Bad but Skeppy’s tether is completely encased in red. The crimson strands weave in and out of each other, knotting themselves as thoroughly as they can. Dream worries it might have broken through the green casing and threaded itself directly into Skeppy’s lifeline.</p><p>He can free the others from where he is now; being in the same room as the possessed helps and now that the blue flames and an additional exorcist are working away at the egg, it should be relatively easy. But if Dream wants to have any chance to help Skeppy then he’s going to have to get closer.</p><p>He turns his attention back to the people in front of him. Bad has released Sapnap and is standing anxiously at the ready next to the much shorter man. Tommy, likewise, has moved a couple of paces away from Dream and is keeping an eye on the fight in the corner of the room while they discuss their next move. Sapnap shifts on his feet, but if he has any emotion on his face then Dream can’t tell. He’s been avoiding looking at the Pyro.</p><p>
  <em>‘We should free the others and then get Skeppy.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Do you think the egg will retaliate? It might try to make it harder for us if we go for the others first.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘If we go for Skeppy now then the possessed will fight harder. The others might not be able to hold them off for us long enough to free him.’</em>
</p><p>“Alright, then we’ll get the others first and save Skeppy for last.” Dream concludes with himself.</p><p>“Can we help?” Bad offers, shifting around. His tail flicks nervously from side to side. It takes Dream a long moment to think about how much he trusts the people in front of him.</p><p>“We need to give the front-lines the heads up that we’re going to free the possessed.” He answers slowly, “We don’t want anyone getting stabbed while they’re coming out of it.”</p><p>“I’ll message them.” Tommy mutters with a frown and a dramatic show of reluctance as he yanks out his communicator.</p><p>“When we get to Skeppy, someone is going to have to hold him down.” Dream directs at Bad.</p><p>
  <em>‘And also, I would like to not be stabbed again so if someone could defend us while we do it too...’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘They aren’t going to stab us.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘They might! They don’t like us, remember?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Okay but stabbing us while we’re trying to help?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘They’ve done worse to us for less.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We are not having this discussion right now.’</em>
</p><p>“I’ll watch your back.” Sapnap interrupts the voices. Dream lifts his head to face him, the shock making him momentarily forget that he was supposed to be avoiding making eye contact.</p><p>There’s a fire alight in Sapnap’s eyes that almost makes Dream forget about the hesitance radiating from his two halves. For a moment, they all stare at each other. Sapnap is determined and focused as he stares Dream down, Bad has a perplexed and concerned look on his face, Tommy watches with displeasure and confliction from the side, and Dream…</p><p>He doesn’t really have much of a choice. As flimsy as their friendship proved to be on Sapnap’s end, the man isn’t one to turn traitor mid-fight. The Dreamon hesitates with those bitter feelings swirling in his gut, but the Dreangel has already made up his mind.</p><p>“Alright.”</p><p>Sapnap beams and they get to work.</p><p>…</p><p><em>-TommyInnit:</em> We’re freeing the egg’s bitches</p><p>-<em>TommyInnit</em>: do not stab please</p><p>Puffy reads the message and dodges a swipe from AntFrost. No sooner had she driven him back into the corner did Ponk falter next to the cat-hybrid and look around with confusion, “Oh…”</p><p>Eret backs off from their advancement on the man, “Ponk? You with us?”</p><p>“Yeah…” Ponk sheepishly puts his sword away and catches sight of Sam, “Sam! Hey!”</p><p>The masked man throws himself at Sam’s front, sneaking in through the swing of his axe and holding him back as best he can by planting his feet and wrapping his arms around Sam’s torso, “This isn’t you, cut it out!”</p><p>“Get off of me!” Sam yells and swings at the people closest to him.</p><p>Puffy hears Ranboo and Jack shout as Punz hops onto the creeper hybrid’s back without warning. Puffy blocks Ant’s sword and catches the mercenary’s crimson-free, slightly panicked eyes on top of the much larger hybrid. Ranboo and Jack take the opening to latch onto Sam’s arms.</p><p>“What the hell are you doing you-” Sam stops. The hybrid groans and shakes his head, lifting the arm that Ranboo is clinging to, as if the Enderman hybrid weighs nothing, to rub at his temple.  “Ponk?”</p><p>“Sam!” Ponk’s eyes crinkle happily, “You’re back!”</p><p>“Yeah what’s – oh.” Sam sees Ranboo still clinging to his arm like a frightened monkey and lowers both arms so Ranboo and Jack can let go without the fear of falling and breaking something. Punz releases Sam as well, but Ponk stays hugging his waist.</p><p>“Sorry.” Sam apologizes miserably.</p><p>“It’s okay.” Ponk reassures with a smile. The others around them give him friendly smiles and forgiving pats.</p><p>Puffy nearly loses a piece of her hat watching them. Ant’s sword swings close to her nose and it’s only years of fighting that save her from a bloody face. “Come on Ant, you next! Wake up!” She encourages, deflecting another sword strike and dancing away from his sharp claws.</p><p>Phil yells from above, “I’d like it better if Skeppy were next, thank you!”</p><p>Techno grunts in agreement, bringing his sword down and disturbing a hidden line of redstone.</p><p>“Found another!” Phil hollers.</p><p>“How much redstone do you have?!” Techno yells irritably, having lost his amusement over it after the tenth hidden redstone trap.</p><p> “He’s got a lot.” Sam answers, running over with Ranboo and Ponk to help with Skeppy, “Follow me, I know where some of them are!”</p><p>Punz sneaks up behind Ant and the cat hybrid turns at the last second to block the incoming sword. Jack shouts in response to something Ponk says about going to check on George and he runs up the staircase. Ant falters in his step and drops his sword. His eyes squeeze shut and his ears twitch with distress. When he opens his eyes again, the egg’s influence is gone. “Dream!”</p><p>Puffy’s ears perk at the sound of her duckling’s name. She thought she caught a glimpse of a green cape jumping into the XP farm, but she hadn’t gotten a good look and had been a bit preoccupied trying not to lose an ear to AntFrost’s blade. She started to wonder if he was here again when a hidden figure had fired spectral and slowness arrows out of the vine jungle. It was impossible to tell who it was with how closely the person stuck to the shadows, but she had hoped…</p><p>“Skeppy!!” Bad yells, crashing out of the jungle and running straight into the fray. Techno whirls on the demon but Bad only has eyes for the raging and desperate, crimson-colored diamond man in front of them. He passes by everyone else and they can all see the two men clinging to his back.</p><p>With a familiar white bandana and a cracked mask, Sapnap and Dream have the same horrified look on their faces at being attached to the recklessly moving demon.</p><p>Bad tackles Skeppy away from a newly revealed redstone trap and holds him in place. The demon covers Skeppy, hiding him from the others. Dream slides off of Bad’s back and rushes around to Skeppy’s head where only his hair pokes out from behind the demon.</p><p>Puffy’s feet are moving before she can do anything else. Shouts of Dream’s name echo throughout the room and they fall on deaf ears.</p><p>Sapnap blocks her way, “I can’t let you pass, Puffy.”</p><p>Ant joins Sapnap’s side quickly, “Let him free Skeppy. No matter what happened in the past, we need him to save our friend.”</p><p>Sapnap gives Ant a side-eyed glance and accepts his allegiance with a slight inclination of his head. Puffy looks at them both in disbelief. Then, of all people, Technoblade comes to stand on Sapnap’s other side.</p><p>“I have my reasons.” He shrugs, deliberately eyeing Sapnap.</p><p>“I’d say this counts.” Phil agrees with the unspoken line of thought and he lands next to Techno, joining the growing wall of people between Puffy and her duckling.</p><p>Puffy looks back at the others, hesitantly watching everything unfold. Ranboo shuffles away, “I don’t want to fight Phil and Techno.”</p><p>Sam, Ponk, and Punz share a look with Ant before moving to stand next to Ranboo, silently conveying neutrality.</p><p>“For now.” Sam states ominously.</p><p>Eret is all that’s left, and they wordlessly raise their hands, “I’m with Ranboo on this one too.”</p><p>“What will it be, Puffy?” Sapnap asks. She turns back to the wall of people and her sword falls to the floor, tears welling in her eyes, “Just tell me if he’s okay.”</p><p>Sapnap’s stance softens and he glances away, “He’s…better than he was.”</p><p>She desperately wants to know more, but when she tries to peak around Bad’s large form, Ant blocks the way. Sapnap’s words will have to be enough for now.</p><p>…</p><p>Skeppy is in deep.</p><p>Dream gets up close to the corrupted tether and carefully thumbs away red line after red line. He digs just like he did with the others, searching for the last person he needs to save and anticipating the green rope to eventually surface. The strands under his fingertips part stubbornly, more so than they had for any of the others. They cling together, only allowing him to part what his fingers can pry into until the small hole his thumbs barely fit into goes down to the joints.</p><p>
  <em>‘It should have shown up by now.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Something is wrong.’</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘Where is it?’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>He digs and digs, but there is nothing but red, red, red –</p><p>
  <em>‘There’s no way it just disappeared.’</em>
</p><p>Tethers are a person’s soul – their very essence – tied to their home and friends. They are threads of fate that curl fondly around who and what they love and anchor themselves to their home. Only in death is it severed and left floating to either fade or linger. Skeppy’s can’t have just vanished without a trace. The egg can’t consume someone’s entire being…can it?</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘Then where did it go?’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>‘…’</em>
</p><p>“Bad.” He says out loud, acting on instinct alone, “Call for him.”</p><p>He hears a responding sob from the physical world, “Skeppy...”</p><p>The red lines flowing like blood through his fingers tighten and shift.</p><p>“Please come back to me. <em>I’m sorry</em>.” He hears Bad choke, “I’m sorry I picked the egg. I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to choose you. I love you so much and it should never have come down to the two of you, because…” Bad sobs again and there’s a pulse Dream can feel run through the corruption, “because it should always be you. I should have picked you without a second thought.”</p><p>Some of the strands in the middle of the thick red river darken to a deep purple. </p><p>“And now you’re like this because of me, I wasn’t strong enough and I’m so <em>sorry</em>.”</p><p>The deep purple lightens to amethyst –</p><p>“You’re my best friend and I would pick you every single time and the one time that it matters I didn’t because of this stupid egg and my stupid weak heart. Please,” Bad begs, “I’ll do better.”</p><p>Then amethyst turns to light blue –</p><p>“Please just come home to me.”</p><p>And light blue to brilliant, dazzling, diamond.</p><p>Dream seizes the thin tether that shines against the sea of crimson surrounding it, preventing it from slipping back under.</p><p><strong>‘We got it!’</strong> He cheers, staring down at the tether in his open grip with relief and more than a little awe. He has no idea how Skeppy managed to come back. Even without the green covering, Skeppy was able to fight his way to the surface just long enough for Dream to give the drowning man something solid to hold onto. Dream can take him to shore from here.</p><p>But of course his pieces have to ruin it.</p><p>
  <em>‘Why is it so thin?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Huh. Why <strong>is</strong> it so thin?’</em>
</p><p>He blinks down at it, relief melting into confusion. A gasp from the material world is all the warning he gets when the tether starts sliding through his hand. His eyes widen and they swiftly follow the movement up to the egg, where the tether is being reeled in.</p><p>Skeppy is slipping right through his fingertips.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘Shit!’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Without any better ideas, his fingers close tightly around the tether. He’s yanked off his feet and jerked forward. A shout is pulled from his throat as both he and the tether are pulled unceremoniously into the physical world.</p><p>He preferred to only deal with tethers in the spectral realm; the physical tended to be distracting and overly cluttered with all the colorful tethers and strands, but now the physical realm is swamped with gray. Only the bright blue in his hands and the consuming red in front of him stands out.</p><p>The tether drags him across the floor and he scrambles to dig his feet into the ground for any kind of purchase. The others shout and yelp in surprise as he’s dragged through them. Bad yells Skeppy’s name, but Dream is too focused on keeping his grip on the tether to bother looking back.</p><p>The soles of his feet catch on one of the egg’s own petrified vines and he uses it to get as much leverage as he can to stop the tether from being consumed anymore. He pulls back against it, his joints straining to keep Skeppy out of the crimson.</p><p>Lava has turned to obsidian, the vines to stone, and the fungus to cobble. It’s only the gray beneath his feet that keeps him and the blue from the red.</p><p>His wounds protest violently against his effort and he can feel blood seeping out of the re-opened gash in his side, but he refuses to let go despite the screaming pain in his side and shoulder.</p><p>
  <em>‘This is our last life! If we don’t let him go then we’ll both die!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘No!’</em>
</p><p>The egg gives a mighty tug and Dream is hauled over the stone and tripping back onto the ground to be dragged to the egg once more. Dream lets go with one hand and hooks his arm around the trunk of a stone fungus. He comes to a stop again with a grunt.</p><p>
  <em>‘I don’t want to die!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We can’t let Skeppy die either!’</em>
</p><p>Because Skeppy will. If his blue lifeline is consumed then that will be the end of him, there will be no getting Skeppy back after that, and Dream…Dream still has to apologize.</p><p>
  <em>‘How does it always come down to this for us?’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘I think we’re just really bad at apologies.’</em>
</p><p>“Shut up!” He snarls angrily, “Shut your goddamn mouths!”</p><p>This isn’t going to be like last time, no matter what parallels the Dreamon is drawing right now.</p><p>“No one is allowed to die until I apologize and that is final!” He declares over the sound of his fungus pillar cracking under the pressure. He looks for another foothold after the pillar breaks. It won’t happen like last time, it won’t, he refuses.</p><p>The pillar crumbles and he nearly slides forward when suddenly there are arms around his waist and hands wrapped around his limbs. The touches are foreign and nearly overwhelming to his senses after going so long without any physical contact, but it’s <em>support</em> and he hasn’t had that in a long time.</p><p>“Bold words, Odysseus.” A voice comes from behind.</p><p>He glances back.</p><p>Techno is behind him, a solid wall anchoring him against the pull of the egg. Sapnap is by his side, one hand covering Dream’s own around Skeppy’s line and the other tightly gripping his bicep. Someone is holding his other arm in both hands and when he looks over his other shoulder so his mask can see them, he sees Puffy’s worried gaze look back. Punz is behind her with his hand clasped with Dream’s. The two do their best to replace the fungus as a pillar of support while Phil, Eret, Ponk, Sam, and Ant hold onto the others and link their arms together all the way back to where Sam grips the edge of the stairway entrance. He’s startled to see <em>George</em> is there with Jack, clinging to the hybrid’s wrist and helping Sam be the group’s anchor.</p><p>“About time you came home.” Techno smirks.</p><p>
  <em>‘If we’re Odysseus, does that make him Hercules?’</em>
</p><p>Techno snorts for some reason, but he’s smiling. Dream looks at Techno and all of his old friends and family behind him and…</p><p>The realization hits him like an iron golem.</p><p>They’re <em>supporting</em> him.</p><p>He nearly buckles at that thought.</p><p>
  <em>‘It won’t last.’</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘We know.’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>He shoves his emotions away and turns his attention back to Skeppy’s tether, missing the frowns of the people closest to him.</p><p>“We need to pull!” Dream says and so they do. Everyone heaves backward and it strains his wounds terribly. His breath hitches and his vision goes black.</p><p>Sapnap shouts for them to stop with a panicked voice.</p><p>“Dream.” He hears Sapnap say next into his ear. It sounds distant and Dream becomes confused about where they are, “Hey-”</p><p>“Cornelius!” A familiar voice interrupts, “You have to keep pulling!”</p><p>
  <strong><em>He knows that voice.</em> </strong>
</p><p>In a different time and in a different place, a wanderer had entered his village and stayed for a while.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘Carlisle?’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>“Karl?!” Sapnap startles.</p><p>“There are more in there!” Carl says, much closer now. Dream’s vision slowly fades back in and Carl’s blurry form is beside Sapnap.</p><p>
  <em>‘What the fuck?’ </em>
</p><p>“Karl, I don’t think he can.” Sapnap argues gently. A thumb is rubbing kind circles over the back of Dream’s hand.</p><p>“We’re working on it!” Someone says in front of him.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>He knows that voice too.</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘Robyn?’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Skeppy’s tether pulses.</p><p>“No, he has to pull them out!” Carl insists vehemently, “That’s the only way this will work!”</p><p>“Pull who out? What are you talking about?” An accented voice demands – Tommy. Dream sluggishly turns from Carl to the teenager, the shock of blonde hair nearly distracts him from light blue eyes.</p><p>
  <strong><em>He knows that shade of blue</em>.</strong>
</p><p>Catt had eyes like that whenever the light hit them just right. It was always when the sun rose, in the sleepy hours of the morning, right as the sunlight would trickle through the window shades and over the blind man’s face. He used to wake up to the sight of Catt’s eyes glinting from it, his ears pointed towards Cornelius’ waking form and his fingers playing with his dirty blonde hair.</p><p>In his delirious state, Tommy’s eyes remind him so vividly of those moments that he can’t help but call for his Partner.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>‘Catt?’</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Something ripples in his clenched fist, it’s diamond blue and it leads to a sickening red – <em>red like Jack’s eyes when the dagger had entered his heart, murdering him in his own bed right beside the sleeping form of his partner</em>.</p><p>“<em>Yes</em>, Cornelius.” Carl encourages. “Now <em>pull</em>.”</p><p>United by the love of the past, Dreamon and Dreangel fuse further together. Dream strains and pulls with all of his might and soul. He puts everything he has into hauling the blue tether away from the dangerous red.</p><p>He finds himself lacking.</p><p><em>‘I need <strong>more</strong>.’ </em>He thinks, and the presence of his two pieces vanish. His mask rotates and stretches, repairing itself while twin dotted eyes elongate into lines that cross into an x and his smiley opens into a laugh. Sharp dark green horns sprout from his head and big bat-like wings grow from his back, bursting through his mangled shirt.</p><p>Sharp claws rip and tear through the Crimson’s strings until nothing is left but him and the blue line. Green and blue and crimson are all that stand out against the background of stone gray, and the corrupted red is <strong>not</strong> welcome.</p><p>A deep, angry growl leaves his lips. The SMP is <em>his</em>, the End is <em>his</em>, he is meant to protect – to be the new guardian where the Elder failed and <em>he will not fail</em>.</p><p>He <strong>pulls</strong>.</p><p>The blue flames eat away at the egg and Dream flaps his powerful green wings, pulling and pulling and pulling – ignorant of the people behind him that are aiding his efforts. The Crimson cracks under the might of Green and Blue.</p><p>Dream pulls the blue tether out and the Crimson finally releases Skeppy. The red lines that are left clinging desperately to Skeppy’s tether fray and snap, leaving the egg sitting in a bloody puddle of its own useless strings. He hauls Skeppy’s tether out of the egg and with him comes an explosion of lifelines.</p><p>Tethers every color under the sun explode out of the cracks in the egg, hauled out by their connection with Skeppy’s line and to each other. They are severed and adrift without an anchor, but they are <em>free. </em></p><p>The battle is over.</p><p>…</p><p>In the physical realm, the SMP members gape at the influx of ghosts and souls escaping out of the cracks of the egg. The screams coming from the souls as they leave the egg and the sheer amount that are still escaping force Fundy, Tubbo, and Tommy to retreat back to the larger group to get away from the noise and light. Fundy’s ears are flat in distress when he asks, “Nether, how long has it been corrupting people?”</p><p>“A very long time.” Karl smiles tiredly, his eyes old and worn.</p><p>“Hang on, they’re not screaming…” Tubbo says, eyes glinting with realization and a smile starting to form on his face.</p><p>“They’re cheering.” Tommy finishes for him. They stare in awe with the others as freed souls rejoice around them, filling the room that was once an overwhelming crimson with laughter and rainbows.</p><p>Two souls barge through the group of three. Tommy yelps in surprise and goes to shout at their retreating forms in offense when he sees them approach Dream’s limp and bloody form on the floor, only a sliver of his mask left on his face.</p><p>…</p><p>They fall back apart, exhausted and injured. There’s something ironic about falling apart a week after they had fused back into Dream because of the very same feelings. There’s a soft and warm material behind them, but they don’t have the strength to look through their mask and see. They want to rest.</p><p>Except, they have to do something.</p><p>…What was it again?</p><p>“Cornelius.” A deep voice comes from the dark.</p><p>“Catt.” They whisper, regret and sorrow filling them from head to toe. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>
  <em>‘We were too slow.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We should have run faster.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We should have known better than to trust the justice of humans.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘We should have said goodbye when we had the chance.’</em>
</p><p>“It wasn’t your fault.” Catt soothes. The feeling of overwhelming love passes through them and leaves just as quickly as it came. It happens again, smaller in size but just as overwhelming in its care for him and they sob from the love that they feel because the love is for them – for <em>Dream</em>. It is a promise to stay by his side no matter what, it is proof that he is not something unlovable now that he is broken, and it is a swear that he is still worth something even though his pieces cannot fit completely together anymore.</p><p>“I left things unsaid too.” Robyn whispers. “You should do what you came here to do, or you’ll regret it.”</p><p>That’s right…they still have one thing left to do.</p><p>The Dreamon and Dreangel struggle not to fade, but Dream has always been more than the sum of their parts. The two pieces fade into darkness while Dream continues to fight his way to the waking world.</p><p>Weakly looking out through his mask, he sees a pink figure above him with a golden crown. It’s not who he needs to see.</p><p>“T-Tommy? Where is…” His tongue is heavy in his mouth and the words fall sluggishly.</p><p>“He’s right here.” Techno says and Dream rolls his head in the direction the Piglin is looking. Blue eyes look into sightless green.</p><p>“We’re so sorry.” The apology is slow and deliberate, Dream refuses to mispronounce or slur his words even if that means more wasted time. His intentions will not be mistaken. “It wasn’t…our fault that we were split…but it was my demon….and my body that…was used against you…and you didn’t…deserve that.”</p><p>“Tubbo.” He calls for the other boy and spots his blurry form immediately next to Tommy, “You…too. I’m sorry…even if it was by your design...it was too much. The – The consequences…were unfair.”</p><p>Tubbo sniffles and Dream can’t see Tommy’s eyes anymore. Black hair with a white bandana around it and brown hair with googles in them abruptly enter his vision and take up what little he can see. There’s a rainbow hiding in the corner of what’s left.</p><p>He has no words for them. He could apologize, but the Dreamon had made no action against them. He owes them nothing and despite the desperation clawing at his chest he pushes away the desire to say anything to get them back. It might be the lingering bitterness of the Dreamon or the hurt from the Dreangel, but Dream has only one thing he feels the need to say.</p><p>“Why?” He whimpers, the pain – both emotional and physical – overwhelming him.</p><p>He forgave them for so many things.</p><p>Sapnap had started just as many conflicts as Tommy. He had murdered people’s pets and started so many wars over it yet Dream had forgiven him every single time, even if he was the one that was left to deal with the consequences.</p><p>George had run at the first sign that Dream wasn’t going to do what he wanted. The Dreamon never stopped caring about them. They would have realized that if Sapnap hadn’t gone to <em>Tommy</em> when he had doubts about their friendship. They both trusted Tommy’s word more than Dream and that was something neither the Dreamon nor the Dreangel could understand much less forgive.</p><p>They left him.  </p><p>Despite everything he tried to do for them, they still left him.</p><p>Dream hears them talking above him, apologizing and making promises that he’s sure are empty. He isn’t paying attention. In the same way he’d never repair an old lantern that was never working in the first place, Dream doesn’t really want to hear their excuses. He has no real desire to repair a friendship that will only keep falling apart. It’s too bad it took him this long to realize how flimsy it was.</p><p>Dream’s last life drifts away to the sound of his ex-friends crying above him, souls and ghosts rejoicing over freedom and talking excitedly as they intermingle with SMP members, and the very last thing he hears is Bad’s joyous cry of Skeppy’s name.</p><p>He would smile at that if he had the energy. Dream had done it. He had saved Skeppy, and with him came all the souls that had fed the egg for centuries. Skeppy must have latched onto the other souls so they could escape with him, the crazy bastard.</p><p>Dream dies with a small self-satisfied smile, tears spilling down his face, and the guiding hands of his old partner and adopted apprentice on his wrists.</p><p>…</p><p>He wakes up in the community house and he is <em>pissed</em>.</p><p>“What.” He hisses.</p><p>Hell goddam no. He is done being this land’s guardian and the End Gods can go fuck themselves. They should have just written him off like the End Dragon as a mad tyrant and let him die so he could spend the afterlife happy and healthy, catching up with his lost family.</p><p>Let someone else take this cursed position, he wants nothing to do with it anymore. He’s done with being people’s scapegoats and he’s sick of cleaning up everyone’s mess, especially now that one of their most recent ones happened to be the giant fucking split down his mind and soul.</p><p>
  <em>‘THIS IS BULLSHIT!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘THOSE FUCKING LIARS!’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘“the universe loves you” MY ASS’</em>
</p><p>A meow breaks through the rage coursing through his veins and the fire in his eyes dampens a little at the sight of Patches cocking her head at him in confusion. He sighs and picks her up, letting her soft fur and warm body soothe his emotions.</p><p><em>-Technoblade</em>: Where did you respawn?</p><p>
  <em>‘Don’t respond, we’re done here. We’re leaving.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Agreed but we have to at least thank him for his help.’</em>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Pushy.’</em>
</p><p>-<em>Dream</em>: Well, this is awkward.</p><p>-<em>Dream</em>: Thanks for your help but I’m not sticking around.</p><p>-<em>Technoblade</em>: Where are you going to go? You’re homeless.</p><p>-<em>Dream</em>: I HAVE A HOUSE</p><p>-<em>Technoblade</em>: Okay Dream, I believe you Dream, go home to your big house and redstone doors Dream</p><p>-<em>Dream</em>: What is wrong with you</p><p>-<em>Technoblade</em>: You should start going to your big big house, the others are coming to find you</p><p>He hears the shouts of his name seconds after he finishes reading Techno’s message. Patches moves to his shoulders and he walks out of the Community House doors to the nether portal.</p><p>He doesn’t run. There’s no need. Neither of his forms is looking for confrontation and the respawn makes him feel almost as good as new, so it is easy for his repaired smiley mask to spin back into a laugh.</p><p>Walls that had been demolished when he was split are back up. He’s not back at full strength – not with three psyches where there should be one, but it’s a near thing.</p><p>He’s done pretending to be a mortal, there’s no point in trying to for the sake of making friends and family. He’s learned from that mistake.</p><p>They won’t be able to hurt him like this.</p><p>“Dream!”</p><p>He stops just before entering the nether portal. With a slight turn of his head, he sees Sapnap standing at the top of the stairs. His face is red from crying and running so far.  </p><p>“Wait.” He begs between panting breaths, “Please.”</p><p>“So you can kill my cat?” Dream responds coldly, “I don’t think so.”</p><p>He turns back to the portal, takes a step forward-</p><p>“I’M SORRY!”</p><p>-and stops.</p><p>It shouldn’t matter – <em>it shouldn’t matter</em> – he’s done, he already decided. He’s done with Sapnap and the others and all the pain that came with them. They <em>left </em>him, why isn’t he allowed to do the same? Why can’t he keep moving? Why can’t he take one more step away from them?</p><p>“Dream please, just give me one more chance.”</p><p>He wants to.</p><p>That’s the worst part.</p><p>He wants so badly to have Sapnap’s friendship back. He wants to turn around and accept the apology. He wants to pull the younger man into his arms and run off into the woods to explore a cave with him just like they used to. He wants to talk with George for hours on end about everything and nothing until the sun sets. He wants Bad to scold him for cursing while they gather potion supplies in the Nether. He wants Puffy to look at him like she still loves him – like he isn’t a monster.</p><p>Dream stands rigidly for too long. Sapnap takes the time to come up behind him and wrap his arms around his waist. The younger man’s forehead comes to rest between Dream’s shoulder blades.</p><p>“Please…”</p><p>Dream inhales shakily, “If you kill my cat, I’m done.”</p><p>The hug tightens and Sapnap nods against his back, “Deal.”</p><p>“But not here.” Dream continues, pulling away from Sapnap’s hold and the arms release their hold to let him go, “I’m not staying.”</p><p>“We’ll send you the coords when we find a spot.” He promises, looking back one last time at his friend’s face. There’s hope there. The spark in his soul that his Dreangel had tried to ignore and his Dreamon had looked longingly at flares brightly into an inferno.</p><p>Patches purrs in his ear and he steps through the portal.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And we come to our conclusion! Let me know what you think! I might do some one-shots with some relationship mending but I make no promises hahahahaha!</p><p>TLDR; Intense game of tug of war ends with many many freed souls and a death. Dream finally gets a hug, Techno is still a legend, and Bad is a simp for Skeppy but we all been knew.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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